


FNaF: A Haunting Tale

by Ground_Zer0s



Series: FNaF: A Haunting Tale [1]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Five Nights at Freddy's 1, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 3, Five Nights at Freddy's 4, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, fnaf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-02-22 14:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13168542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ground_Zer0s/pseuds/Ground_Zer0s
Summary: A multi-chapter fanfic, telling the tale of 3 night guards, a child, a technician, and the tortured souls of murdered children.





	1. Prologue

  Death - a curse that plagued what was meant to be a happy place for children. What appeared to be joyful and bright on the outside hid a very dark secret, a secret only known by the ghosts of the children who had lost their lives there and the man who killed them. Those ghosts possessed corresponding mascots that stood on the stage - A bear, a rabbit, a chicken, and a fox... And their guardian and guide, a puppet.

 

  Rain poured outside, accompanied by flashes of lightning and the deep, loud rumbles of thunder that followed. The pizzeria had been closed for a while, long enough for the place to become run-down and infested with rats. All was quiet inside... except for the gentle thud of heavy fur-covered paws making their way down the hallway. An animatronic bear was making its way through the dark building all by itself, seeming to be searching for something... When its mechanical eyes fell on a dark shadow that matched its shape, the bear suddenly felt inclined to follow it. It was led to a room, but though the bear could see the doorway, it could not enter. Its internal computer couldn't see the room, no matter how much the bear wished to enter. Eventually, the bear gave up and turned itself around to walk away, but a few steps away from the door its eyesight cut out and so did its thoughts. Something - or someone - had pulled the cords that powered it.

 

  When the bear never returned to the stage, an indigo-purple rabbit moved from its own place on the stage to look for its friend. It had thought it'd seen the bear not long after leaving the stage, but it wasn't the same... It was dark, like a shadow. It compelled the rabbit to follow, and it led the rabbit to the same door that the bear had been trying to go through. The rabbit also couldn't make it through, which made it confused. It looked around with its big pink eyes until they fell upon the crumpled figure of a brown bear on the floor. The rabbit shuffled away from the door towards its crumpled old friend, but then...

 

  Everything cut out. The rabbit was powered off, and it crumpled to the floor beside the bear.

 

  It was the same for the old mechanical chicken, as well as the fox. All led to that room in the back that they couldn't enter, all powered off as soon as they got near. They didn't know what was going on... And the ghosts inside were unsure what to do with the now unusable bodies they resided in. They all slowly left the machines, gathering themselves in a group. Without the machines, they could do nothing, but they could at least enter the room that the machine's couldn't. When the final soul wandered over from the halls out of its hiding place, they all gathered and entered the room.

 

  It was dark. A dim, but dying light lit the back of the room. There was nothing there but arcade machines, an old and empty rabbit suit, and... A man. He could see the tiny bodies that wandered in, small and colorless. They knew exactly who he was. The single ghost child that had taken its time making it to the group was the first to step forward and approach him, but he ran. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for him to run... After being chased around the room, he bolted to the old rabbit suit, thinking he could trick these ghosts into thinking he was just another one of the old mascots. After all, it had worked in the past... But he soon realised his fear had gotten the best of him. After putting on the suit, the mix of his high heart rate and laughter of victory caused the suit's spring locks to come loose. The spring locks that held back machinery and the endoskeleton that allowed the suit to become an animatronic had all released, snapping loose from age and rust, and set into motion a very _painful, horrible_ death for the man inside.

 

  The parts shot into place, crushing bone and severing arteries on the way into their place. The frame of the endoskeleton pierced through the unfortunate man's arms, legs, throat, and chest. There were screams, cut short by the eyes of the endoskeleton crushing the man's skull as they sprang into place. By the end of it all, the suit was a crumpled mess of yellow fur and I sprawled out on the floor.

 

  The ghosts watched with a lack of emotion as it all unfolded before them, and weren't sure how to feel when it was all over... But then, as they looked at each other, they began to feel a sense of anger... They knew they had watched as the man who had killed them died a painful death, but they did not find joy in it. They knew it wasn't over... _He wasn't done. They were not free._


	2. Mike's Quirky New Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike Schmidt expects a quiet, easy job working at night for a kid's place... But he finds out very quickly that it's not even close to what he'd hoped for.

_  "Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon as property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced." _

 Mike listened half-heartedly to the phone call, tapping his pen on the desk as he stared into the screen in front of him. It was his first night shift, first day of work for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and the first time he had ever worked as security. He was looking forward to a job that wouldn't involve a whole lot, thinking that a kid's pizza place wouldn't ever have issues. The call was dragging on and on, but it gave out a bit of...  _ interesting _ information.

_  "So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh... Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was  _ the bite of '87 _... Yeah, i-it's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?" _

 The bite? So rumors were true, someone really had been chomped on by one of the creepy animatronic characters here. Mike had heard the stories, just never really believed them until now. "Oh boy, I get to deal with  _ those things _ ." Mike grumbled. As the call continued, he became increasingly anxious over the things being said. The more the guy over the phone said, the more Mike began to realize this job wasn't going to be relaxing at all... It was going to be dangerous. 

_ "Y-yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night." _

 "Yeah, _ good night  _ to you too... I'm sure you're thrilled to not be working this shift any more." Mike huffed as he leaned back in his chair. He tapped at the keyboard to swap the cameras on the screen, looking for anything weird. Not a single thing had changed. "I'm gonna quit if he's just messing with me." He grumbled. Not a thing had moved, not even slightly. He was about to glance up at the clock when he noticed the screen suddenly go to static. He slapped the monitor a few times and the image came back, but his newfound comfort was replaced with fear. The rabbit with the guitar had left the stage, leaving his fake guitar behind in his place. Mike frantically tapped at the keyboard to try and find where the rabbit had run off to, eventually finding it staring up into the camera lens at the end of the far hall. He felt goosebumps start to rise all over his body. "Damn rabbit, you weren't supposed to move!" Mike spat, what little comfort he had at this job now gone. If these things really were as dangerous as the guy on the phone had said, if one got into the office, Mike would be a dead man. And from the sound of it, it would be a very painful and unpleasant death. 

 Hours dragged on, made even worse by Mike's high levels of anxiety. He had watched the rabbit move from room to room, but it never got too close to him. That is, not until around 5:30 AM when it finally made its way over to the office. It stood just outside, but not close enough to see from the window to the hall. Mike watched it closely, but as soon as the camera went to static, he could hear the light shuffle of heavy paws coming towards the open office door. He jumped out of his chair and ran to the switch that closed the door, slamming his palm against the button. The door slid closed with a metallic thud. Mike poked the button to turn on the hallway light and jumped in shock as the bunny was suddenly illuminated in the hall as it peered into the office curiously. Its pink eyes followed Mike closely as he stepped back from the door. Mike didn't have a whole lot of power left to use... and it was draining fast. 

 10% ... 7% ... 4% ...

 The damned rabbit  _ wouldn't leave _ . Mike was dreading when the power would hit 0%, which in a matter of a minute or so would inevitably happen. Breathing heavily, he grasped at the arms of the chair he sat in with an iron grip, staring the rabbit down until finally...

_ Things went dark. _

 The door opened... And Mike closed his eyes. He kept himself still as he began to hear gentle music play, like someone had winded a music box and let it play in the quiet halls. The suspenseful moment was then cut off by the chime of the clock, followed by the power coming back on. Mike jolted in his seat, but let out a sigh of relief as he watched the rabbit wander away. He was surprised to see Freddy, the main mascot of the place, following behind the rabbit.  _ Was that why I heard the music? _ He thought. He took a while to calm himself down, but was still jumpy by the time the other guard came in. She'd been there a while longer than he had been, and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

 "Meet Foxy yet?" She asked, wondering how far into his week he was. Sure, the first night was always very quiet, and Foxy would always be reluctant to come and meet new guards. But she knew how it went, how Foxy would come running by the second night. He was always such a pain.

 "Foxy? I thought that thing was a wolf." Mike replied, scratching his head. "But he didn't come out last night... That rabbit was out to get me!" The female guard laughed and nodded.

 "Bonnie? He can be like that sometimes. You get used to it, trust me. But tonight, make sure to check Pirate's Cove often. Foxy is shy on the first night, but he'll be rushing to meet you now that he's had time to get to know you. And Chica won't bug you much, she likes to go rummaging around in the kitchen most nights. Makes a mess for the kitchen crew a lot, but at least she's not out to eat you most of the time." Mike shuddered. 

 "Bonnie...? Right, that's the rabbit... Freddy's the bear and Foxy's the w- uh... Fox. So Chica's the... Duck?" He said, trying to get his head around all the characters and their names. His coworker couldn't help but giggle.

 "Chica the  _ Chicken _ . She's real creepy, but not much of a danger. You wanna know who will really creep you out at night? When Freddy's had a bad day, he'll be up in those cameras like nobody's business. I'd watch out for him, since he can get into the office real easy when you're not paying attention. Fridays are usually his bad days."  She stated, doing what she could to advise the new guy. "Oh, my name's Yvonne, by the way. You're... Mike, right? Schmidt?" 

 "Yeah, I'm Mike. Thanks for the advice, I guess... I thought this job was gonna be easy... Not deadly." He said, sighing. "I was really hoping to have a quiet job where I could read a book or something... There was no mention of lively animal mascots coming to kill you at night in the job description. Who's that guy who I heard on the phone, by the way? He sounds like he's worked here way too long." 

 "That's Scott. He's been working for the company since it first opened as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. I guess he knew the owners of the original diner for a while before being hired as a guard when this place first opened. He's told me a bunch of stories, how he has been around for way too much and just wants to leave... He's finally saved up to quit and work from home as a franchise promoter. I think his last day's gonna be... Tomorrow? But he'll leave you instructions for the whole week, don't worry. He's good about training newbies. I guess he's been doing it for a while since one of the co-owners got tired of doing it." Yvonne set her cup of coffee on the desk. "I've never met either of the owners... I hear one is really sweet and like a big teddy-bear, and the other one is grumpy and generally intimidating. Hopefully if either of us meet one of them, it will be the sweet one." Mike stood from his chair and stretched, then yawned. 

 "Yeah. Say, why aren't you working the night shift if you know it so well? I don't get why they'd wanna hire a newbie like me if they have someone experienced already here to do it." Mike asked, which made Yvonne shrug.

 "Scott's quitting, they needed a new day person. I jumped on it because... Well, I'll be honest, I can't stand working the night shift. I've had too many close calls..." She replied, running a hand through her short brown hair. "But I'm sure you'll do just fine. Just... get it down to a rhythm and the night will fly by without a problem." She took a seat where Mike was sitting previously, and changed the camera view to the main party room. Mike nodded slowly, wondering if he should just go ahead and quit then and there. Unfortunately, he already had a terrible time finding a job, and he knew that if he quit he'd end up being stuck with no money for months on end. Plus, quitting after a single day would look terrible on his job history.

 "Rhythm... Got it. I'll try to make one tonight I guess. I'm just hoping these mascots are gonna decide they like me and stop trying to kill me at night." He said, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. Yvonne turned to look at him, the swivel of the chair making the movement very easy and quick.

 "Stage, Foxy, right light, left light, repeat. That's what I had down. Anyway, I gotta start on all my stuff for the day so... I'll see you tomorrow morning!" She said with a smile and a wave. Mike smiled back, then turned and headed out the office door, adjusting his baseball cap for a moment as he made his way to the front door. On his way out, he met the gaze of the morning cashier and exchanged smiles with her before he walked out the door.  

 

 ===

 

 The next night was definitely more exciting. And not in a good way, in Mike's eyes. He was using the rhythm that Yvonne had told him about, which seemed to help a little, but at the same time he was using too much power. He slowed himself down considerably in order to compensate, but then he felt anxious... Her warning about Foxy made him very uneasy, though he was sure she was just exaggerating how he would 'run to meet him'.  _ Dumb things can't run, they're too heavy _ . He thought.  But of course, as if life was trying to prove him wrong as frighteningly as possible, Mike heard the rapit clangs of bare metal feet running towards his office. Quickly, he slammed down both doors just in time to see Foxy come bolting down the hall past the window. Foxy desperately smacked his hook against the door to try and get in, but it was pointless. He passed the window on his way back to his little stage in Pirate's Cove, letting Mike get a good look at the torn up mascot before he was completely out of sight down the hall. Mike made sure to check that he was back in his place on stage before he opened the doors.

 The rest of the night almost seemed too easy. Mike had been startled a few times by Bonnie in the left window and Chica making noise in the kitchen, but as he was starting to get comfortable, he once again got a jolt. He had flicked on the light to the right window, only to see Chica staring in at him with her large beak wide open as if she were trying to bite through the glass.  _ Why did they have to give it teeth? _ He thought to himself as he shut the door.  _ Too creepy _ . 

 After the ordeal with Chica, Mike was glad the rest of the night went smoothly. The rhythm was helping him a great bit, as long as he kept an eye on the power usage. When the clock chimed and everyone went back to their places, Mike felt overjoyed that his second shift had gone so well. When Yvonne got into work, he was excited to tell her how her trick worked.

 “Yvonne! Your rhythm trick worked great, it made things so much easier for me.” He said cheerfully as she walked into the office with a hot cup of coffee in hand. “I didn't really think Foxy would actually  _ run _ to me... But I guess I should've listened. I barely got the door shut in time.” He admitted, standing from his seat to put on his coat. Yvonne yawned and sat herself down in the office chair.

 “Yeah, Foxy's fast. He's more lightweight than the others, so I guess that allows for him to run when he wants to. Which doesn't make any sense to me, he's not even allowed to walk around during the day.” She said, pulling off her coat. “Anyway, I'm glad it worked out for you. It will get a little hairy later on in the week since we get busier and they become more irritated, but if you keep up the rhythm it will go just fine. Even if it makes you super nervous.” 

 “Nervous is an understatement. More like... Constantly terrified.” Mike said, placing his baseball cap on his head. “I hope I end up numb to this, because I really can't afford to be terrified night after night, and I can't afford to quit.” He admitted. 

 “I got comfortable with it after a week or so, once you find that the activity really is just a cycle. The busier we are, the worse they act at night. Things on Sunday are super quiet, trust me.” Yvonne took a long drink of her coffee. “Oh, you won't be working then... That's right. I will be. You need your to days off.” She said flatly. “I wish I could get the weekend off... Or at least Saturday.” Mike thought for a moment, rubbing his round chin.

 “If things go okay, I guess I can cover for you Saturday night. I'm fine working six days, I could use the extra money.” He said after a long pause to think about it. Yvonne raised her eyebrows in surprise.

 “Really? That's our busiest night, you'd be a sitting duck...” Yvonne said, setting down her coffee. “I won't let you cover me that night unless you're absolutely sure you're okay with dealing with these mascots at their worst. And I mean  _ worst _ . They get  _ very _ nasty on Saturday nights.” Mike shoved his hands in his coat pockets and sighed, nodding. 

 “Okay, I'll update you on Friday morning. I'll see you tomorrow.” he said, turning on his heel. On his way out the door, he bumped into someone. He'd been so busy thinking about whether or not he really wanted to risk working Saturday that he didn't see the very tall man he'd run into. Mike apologized and looked the man over. A few inches taller than Mike, this guy stood at 6'2” and didn't look too happy. He had sunken eyes, and dark circles under them like he hadn't slept in five years. His hair was long, but pulled back into a ponytail, and had some gray streaks among the rich brown color. He was definitely an older guy, maybe in his mid-fifties, and had noticeable scars on his neck... They were crescent shaped, and he had two on either side.  _ Maybe its some weird kind of tattoo and not a scar. _ He thought. This guy had a look about him like he had emotionally died a few years back and was waiting for his body to catch up to that. 

 “New night guard, right?” He said, pulling Mike out of his short-lived thought process. He had a deep voice and spoke with an eloquent English accent. “Go home and relax. You look like hell.” He added. Mike almost felt offended. 

 “R-Right. Sorry again for bumping into you like that.” Mike said as he scooted himself around the tall man and made his way out towards the door. Once again, he exchanged smiles with the cashier lady on his way out. 

 

 Wednesday. Shockingly, the pizzeria hadn't been very busy. The animatronics were fairly calm overnight, though Mike had a few troubles here and there. It seemed like Bonnie the Bunny was lonely or something, since he  _ just wouldn't leave the window _ . It drained a lot of the power that Mike had, but he felt he had things down enough to conserve. Chica had come to the right window again, though this time she didn't seem to be trying to eat the window. She peered in with her beak slightly open, just enough to see the row of teeth on the bottom jaw.  _ That was always so unsettling... Teeth on a chicken _ . Mike began thinking that maybe, if he tried interacting with them through the windows, he'd become more comfortable with them. When Chica had finally made her appearance, he waved at her and watched as her eyes followed the movement of his hand. To his surprise, after a moment of stillness, Chica waved back and turned herself around, shuffling her way back down the hall away from his office. Mike was dumbfounded, but he accepted that he got away with exchanging waves with a murderous chicken. 

 Though he was so sure the night was going well for him, he took a glance at his power and realized he'd used too much. 25% power left, with another two hours left of his shift. He tried to lessen his use of power by not closing the doors as much, but found that it was hard to do when Bonnie would constantly come back to stare at him.  _ Go away, you dumb rabbit thing _ . Mike thought to himself, tapping the tip of his forefinger on the desk nervously. It was bad enough he knew that they would kill him if they got in, but it made things so much worse when they just  _ stared _ at him. It always made Mike feel as if they were memorizing his every move so they could kill him easier if they ever got in.

 10%... 5:36 AM

 Mike began to panic. This felt even worse than the first night when he had nearly run out of power. He began to think of ways to hide somewhere in the tiny office in case it did go out. His only option would be to hide under the desk... And he wasn't sure how smart these mascot things were. He figured,  _ at least it was something _ , and that was better than nothing at all. 

 2%... 5:57 AM

 Mike knew it was coming. He shoved the chair away and crawled under the desk, pulling the chair in front of him so that he could hide as well as he could. He sat in silence and waited for the power to shut off for what seemed like an eternity, when finally the lights all blinked off. He could hear footsteps coming closer, but these were heavier than what he usually heard... And there was music. Gentle, delightful music. He could see brown paws stomp their way into the office doorway as lit up eyes looked around the room. In the dim light that the mechanical eyes gave off, Mike could make out the shape of a large bear with brown fur and a top hat.  _ So it was Freddy that made the music _ ... Mike thought, hugging his knees harder than he'd ever done so before.  _ Don't see me... I'm not here, go away! _

__ He felt his heart sink. The bear's eyes finally found him. The music stopped, and the bear tore the chair from its place in front of him, which made him flinch and gasp. Freddy's large paw was inches away from grabbing Mike by the head when he heard his favorite sound: the chime of the clock. Mike didn't move, nor did Freddy... By the time Yvonne got in to work, they both were still in place. Freddy hadn't moved back to his stage, and Mike didn't want to risk moving from under the desk. Yvonne gasped when she walked into the office, and quickly ran back out to find someone to help. She hadn't a clue how to get Freddy to move.

 “Jeane! Is anyone here yet that knows how to work the animatronics? Freddy never left the office and I think Mike's trapped under the desk!” Yvonne explained desperately to the cashier that always smiled at Mike on his way out. Jeane glanced around.

 “Uh, one of the owners is in I think. Check the parts and service room.” She suggested, recalling seeing one of the two owners walk in shortly after her. Yvonne groaned and went to the parts and service room in the back, where she did find who she assumed to be one of the owners. He was tall and thin, which meant this one wasn't the teddy-bear-esque one that everyone liked. 

 “U-Um... I think our night guard is trapped under the desk in the office, Freddy got in but I guess he didn't get a chance to do anything... But he never went back to his stage.” Yvonne explained, her voice conveying all the worry she felt.  The man turned to look at her and raised his eyebrows. 

 “Really? Alright, I'll take care of it.” He replied, quickly moving past Yvonne and heading towards the office. She followed closely, wondering if she could learn how to take care of a situation like this. When they got into the office, Mike was still huddled underneath the desk, Freddy's hand still extended out as if to grab hold of him.

 “Y-You're... one of the owners, right?” Yvonne asked, peeking in nervously. She stayed just outside the office doors, not wanting to get too close to the giant bear that stood in it. After all, she had a lot of close calls with that bear... She wasn't exactly fond of it. The tall man glanced back at her as he looked over the bear.

 “Yes, my name is William. You're Yvonne, right? Sorry that I haven't introduced myself before, I tend to be a bit reclusive... I usually perform regular maintenance on the animatronics.” He answered, finally reaching a hand under the bear's head and hitting a button of some kind. Freddy straightened up and his hand dropped to his side, and he turned to face the opposite office door. He walked out after a long pause. “There. Reset buttons are... Helpful.” William said, bending down to look at Mike. “You alright down there?”

 “Y-Yeah... I think so...” Mike squeaked, slowly squeezing himself out from under the desk. He dusted himself off and took a deep breath, obviously still panicked. “Thanks. I-I think I need to be more careful at night now...” He admitted.

 “You'll have it down, it doesn't take too long. Go relax and try not to think about work too much.” William reassured him. “Yvonne, I'll be here about an hour or so, if you need me you know where to find me.” He said, walking back out of the office and back to the parts and service room. She was pretty confused, but understood now why people didn't like him too much. He was awfully blunt and seemed to have a kind of flat personality.

 “Mike... That was way too close. I don't feel comfortable letting you cover for me on Saturday.” Yvonne stated, finally setting her cup of coffee down on the desk. “I don't doubt your skill or anything, just... I don't know. I've seen a nightguard go before and-” She stopped herself with a hitched breath, then sighed lightly. “Sorry... Look, I'm not supposed to tell you about incidents, but... The night guard before you wasn't me, and he didn't even make it past his fourth night. When I came in, I... I saw the office was a wreck, and there was a blood trail to parts and service... I didn't look, but I know what happened. I guess it was around 3:46 in the morning when it happened. I don't want to see that blood trail again... I think you'll be great for this night shift, but it's your first week and I don't think you're ready to work a Saturday night.” Yvonne explained, picking up the office chair and setting it back on its wheels. Mike was shocked to hear about the previous guard, but at the same time, he completely believed every word of it.

 “Okay... Well. We will see, I want to know if I do good enough on Friday. If I do great, I'm covering that shift. I uh... Trust myself enough to say I won't die like the last guy.” He said, scratching his head. Of course, he didn't sound too sure of his statement, but he wanted to make himself believe he had that kind of potential. Yvonne frowned, but hesitantly nodded.

 “Yeah... Okay. If Friday goes well, then... I guess I'll consider it. But  _ only  _ if it goes  _ really really _ well.” Mike nodded in agreement and placed his baseball cap on his head. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

 “Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Mike replied with a small wave. On his way out, he did what he always did and smiled at the cashier. Her smile back seemed more concerned this time, which he understood. But it wasn't going to be that bad again... He was determined. He wasn't going to fail like that again.


	3. It Was Nice Not Knowing You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike realizes what little gives him comfort at night... And how lonely it is without it.

_ “Hello hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four... I knew you could do it! Uh, hey listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow. It's... It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you uh... when I did. Uh, hey, do me a favor... Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? I'm gonna hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. Uh, I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. You know... Oh no-”  _

 

__ There was a scream, then the call cut to static. Mike sat horrified, knowing he just listened to someone probably die. He wanted to call Yvonne, but he knew the phone would distract him from his work. He had to stay strong for now and get through the night, and then... He'd go look in the suits in the back. He was dreading it, sure, but it was Scott's last request. Maybe... If he was lucky, Scott was still alive. The two had never met before, but Mike felt like they'd become friends, even though Mike had never spoken a single word to the guy. His phone messages were a comfort at night and made Mike feel a lot less... alone. 

 

 Mike's night was going much smoother this time. He was sure he had it down – right light, left light, stage, Foxy – all at a specific pace that didn't drain too much power. He had to be sure to listen close for certain sounds that gave him clues as to when he should open or close the doors, or check the lights out of order. Foxy had already come running twice tonight, only to be thwarted by the door. Mike was beginning to get comfortable again, but one thing kept him from really relaxing: Scott's last call. He dreaded not receiving a call the next night, or the night after... He wasn't ready to bear that silence at the start of his shift.  _ Stop being so sentimental you weirdo! _ Mike thought to himself.  _ We never even talked. It was pre-recorded messages, that's all it was.  _ But Mike couldn't shake that sad feeling like he'd lost a friend. He started to wish he'd gotten to meet Scott, he sounded like a cool, relaxed guy. But he sounded so terrified in that last call... He wondered if Scott met a very painful end and knew it was coming for him. It sure sounded like he knew what was coming, and whatever it was, it sounded like it terrified him. 

 

 “Come on, Foxy, you're killing me.” Mike groaned, shutting the left door again as he watched the mechanical fox bolt down the hall. “I'm giving you plenty of attention, why are you so determined to get me?” The bangs on the door didn't even startle Mike any more. He'd gotten used to all the sounds he heard around the pizzeria. Chica would always be making a mess in the kitchen, and he'd hear all the bangs and clangs of pots as she rummaged through things. Freddy rarely left the stage, but Mike knew when he did, because he would laugh. Bonnie would shuffle his way down the hall. Foxy had loud footsteps as he ran down the hall. Mike had it all memorized now, he was sure of it. He looked at the clock, and then at his power.  _ Still doing good.  _ He thought. 

 

 For a second, in the camera just outside his office, he thought he had seen the poster on the wall change. For a split second of time, he could've sworn it had gone from Freddy to something weird and yellow, something without eyes... He tried to shake it off, but he had a very uneasy feeling. “Don't tell me this place is haunted or something...” He grumbled to himself. As usual, it was like he jinxed himself, and as soon as he said something, he heard a very eery sound behind him... It didn't sound like anything he'd heard before, but it was like a mechanical mumbling that was saying something he couldn't understand. Slowly, Mike turned his head to look at what could be making the sound, and sure enough, there was a golden yellow bear slumped in the corner of the office. Mike let out a yelp and fumbled in the chair for a moment before catching himself on the desk. It looked just like Freddy, but it had no eyes... There were wires hanging out of it, like it had been taken apart. It looked old and withered, and the sound was definitely coming from it. 

 Mike sat perfectly still, watching, but the bear never moved. For a split second, he thought he heard a whisper say “It's me” and “Save them”. Mike was going to speak up finally, but when he opened his mouth, the bear suddenly leaped from its spot and towards Mike, big golden paws extended like they were going to grab him and strangle him. He screamed and flinched, but after a moment of silence, he realized... Nothing had happened. The bear was gone, as was the mechanical mumbling. Mike sat in complete awe, shaken up by the ordeal, yet curious as to whatever it was that he just encountered. But he couldn't sit and think, not now. He swiveled the chair around to the cameras and looked them all over to see where everyone had moved. Surprisingly, while he had encountered the golden bear, nobody had moved an inch. Except... Freddy was staring into the camera from the stage. His eyes were nothing but shadows, yet there were tiny white pupils peering through the camera lens. Mike felt a very eery feeling, but decided it meant nothing significant. He went back to his routine, and tried to calm himself down again...

 

 When the clock chimed, Mike let out a sigh of relief. He had ended his night with a decent 5% of power left, which was probably the best he could manage. He hated cutting it so close, but he had to use that power to make sure Foxy didn't manage to come running in. He waited for Yvonne to make it into the office before he moved from his chair. The second she walked in, she saw the look on his face... He looked like he was going to cry. “Mike? What's wrong? You... You look terrible.” She said, setting down her coffee and her coat. Mike took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

 

 “Scott... Left a message for me. But I... I think he's dead, Yvonne. I think he died the other night.” He said, feeling the emotional burn of his own words. Yvonne looked shocked, but then furrowed her brow.

 

 “Oh? Scott was the most experienced guy here, there's no way... Let me listen to the call.” She demanded, going to the phone on the desk. She hit the playback button, and listened closely to the message.  _ Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? I'm gonna hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. Uh, I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. You know... Oh no-  _ She stopped the message playback before the message ended. “... We have to go look.” She whispered, feeling the same dread that Mike felt. Mike nodded, and got up from his seat. 

 

 “Let's go... M-Maybe he's still alive, you know?” He said, trying to sound a little optimistic about things. The two of them slowly walked themselves over to the room in the back, labeled 'Parts & Service' on the door. Mike reached out and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing open the door. At first glance, there was nothing... But then Yvonne gasped, which startled Mike, and he frantically began looking for what she had seen.

 “Mike! Mike, it's that suit, look at it!” She cried, pointing to a full animatronic suit in the corner. It had blood dripping from the bottom... And human eyes poking out of the eye holes in the head, barely attached to whoever was in there. Yvonne felt herself become overtaken by a mix of grief, shock, and terror and broke down crying, covering her face with her hands. Mike wrapped an arm around her for comfort, but wasn't sure if that would help any. “S-Scott... You didn't deserve this!” She sobbed. 

 

 At the other end of the restaurant, the other owner had wandered in to see how the place was doing before a busy day. His happy morning mood was shut down when he heard the sound of sobs from the back of the restaurant, and quickly rushed to see what was going on. This man seemed like the opposite of his business partner. He was rounder, shorter, and resembled a squishy lumberjack that moved on from flannels. He never wore business attire, always T-shirts and old dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up. He had a mustache, but no beard to match, and wore large glasses. “What on Earth is going on back here?” He asked, finding Yvonne a sobbing mess in Mike's arms. Mike looked at him with a face that really explained just how he felt at the moment – he had no clue what to do. 

 

 “Y-You're the other owner, right? I saw your face in the paperwork and promotional stuff... Uh, w-we have a problem.” Mike said, moving Yvonne out of the way while keeping her in a comforting hug. “The suit... W-We're sure it's Scott in there... We could hear what happened in his phone message.” The large man seemed shocked and stepped into the room, looking over at the suit with blood stains all over. He let out a heavy sigh, and looked down.

 

 “Scott was a fool.” He said, which made Mike almost feel angry. How could he say something like that? But the way he said it... That's what made Mike stop himself from saying something. It sounded... Sad. “He never came back here... But the longer he worked, the more curious he got... I guess he thought it was now or never.” He continued, shaking his head. “I'll call our cleanup crew... Yvonne can take the day off, I'll have Will step in for now. You're... Schmidt, right? Rules of employment state clearly that you absolutely, under no circumstances, cannot speak of this or anything you've seen here today. It sounds bad, I know, but... It keeps the business going, while we can deal with grieving in the background.” 

 

 Mike wanted to protest, even argue that the police should be called immediately, but he also didn't want to lose his job... So he kept his mouth shut. Mike took Yvonne outside to get some fresh air and calm down, though she seemed really upset. After a while of crying, she finally started to calm down enough to at least talk. “M-Mike... I'm sorry you had to see me like this, I'm a complete mess...” She said with a heavy sigh. Mike patted her shoulder reassuringly.

 

 “Don't worry about it. Uh... I don't really know how to feel about all this...” He admitted. “I never met Scott. I wanted to, but... I guess I never will now... But his messages always made me feel more confident and helped me ease into the night, I'm gonna feel...  _ Weird  _ not having those messages there for me.” Yvonne nodded, accompanied with a sniffle.

 

 “He was a really nice guy... I loved the messages too, trust me. When I first started, I was always so scared... But he would always say things like 'you're doing so well' and 'you can do it'. It definitely made me feel better...” She said, her gaze fixed on the ground. “I only met him a few times. We talked about who our favorites were... He liked Foxy the most, which I never understood. He told me I was weird for liking Chica the most... But in a joking way, you know?” Mike nodded.

 

 “You should get home, Yvonne. You need the day off... I'll call you tomorrow morning when I get off work and tell you whether or not I'm covering your shift for sure. I think you need the time to yourself, though... I wouldn't want you working while emotionally messed up, who knows what could happen?” Mike shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed. 

 

 “Yeah... I'll see you later, Mike... Thanks, by the way. For uh... For being so comforting, I guess. You're a cool guy.” She said, flashing him a smile before turning and walking towards her car. Mike smiled back momentarily, then headed towards his own car. The whole ordeal seemed so unreal to him, and he'd even forgotten to ask about the thing he saw during the night...  _ The gold bear _ . What did it mean?

  
  
  


 Mike sat himself down in the office chair with a hefty  _ thwump _ before focusing his eyes on things at the desk. He didn't feel ready for his shift yet, but there he was. He noticed something familiar, but he realized that even though it was normal, it shouldn't be there. The light on the phone was flashing, there was a recorded message. With a furrowed brow, Mike reached out and tapped the playback button, almost hearing the sound of Scott's cheerful greeting before the message even played. But it never came... Instead of the reassuring voice of Scott, it was that mechanical mumbling again. Mike felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he listened, unable to make out anything that it was saying. It was such an awful sound, and it was so garbled that no real words were being said... Or, that's what it sounded like. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually it cut off and the message ended. It caught Mike off guard, but he was relieved that it was over.  _ What did it mean? _ He thought as he went through his usual routine. Maybe I should have a chat with one of the owners...  _ Maybe they know something about it. _

 

__ Mike spent all night feeling on edge. He worked looking at the poster in the hall into his routine camera checks, but it remained the same as it always had been – just a poster of Freddy. He didn't know what to even think of this thing that he'd heard, or what the yellow bear could've been trying to express to him. 

 

_ “It's me.” “Save them.” _

 

__ What did it want from him? He could only put half of his effort into thinking about it all as he had to pay attention to his work. Tonight was proving to be difficult, for sure, but he was making it through okay so far. He thought about how Scott must've died... Having his head shoved into that old suit with all the crossbeams and parts that would have crushed his skull. Maybe that made it a painless, quick death... Mike certainly didn't want to find out first hand. A few times, Mike found himself in a panic because the lights would suddenly not work. But after a few tries, he seemed to always get them working again... Maybe the wiring needed to be worked on. He'd have to let the owners know. 

 

  The chime of the clock always brought such relief, but Mike couldn't help but feel like his usual sense of joy was heavily dulled down. He stood up and grabbed his coat and hat, while his replacement walked in to take over. To Mike's surprise, it was William. “Oh, hi uh... William, right? Uh... I was wondering... If you have time, could I ask you some questions?” Mike asked. William shrugged as he sat in the office chair.

 

 “I suppose. What do you want to know?” He replied, looking over each camera view. 

 

 “Well... The other night, the night I got Scott's last message, I uh... Saw something. This is going to sound crazy, but I saw this gold-yellow bear slumped over in the back corner of the office, and it was making this horrible mechanical mumbling noise. And... I heard it whisper some things, I think one was 'It's me' and the other sounded like 'save them'. I bet it sounds like I've lost my mind, but I... I want answers if I can get them.” William was looking at Mike now with a surprised look, and it took him a moment to reply. 

 

 “A gold-yellow bear, hm? Sounds like old Fredbear, the original Freddy. Both of the original mascots were a golden yellow color. But... I have no idea why you'd be seeing it in the office, that thing has been out of commission for years.” He said, crossing his arms. “Maybe you were just tired... I know new night guards have a problem with nightmares regarding this place a lot, are you sure you didn't doze off momentarily?” Mike sighed and shook his head.

 

 “I'm sure. I know what I saw. It  _ jumped _ at me, like it was gonna try and kill me, but when I opened my eyes... It was gone. And just before I saw it, I saw the poster in the hall change. And the recorded message on the phone is the exact same sound I heard when I saw it, just play it back.” William looked at the phone and thought for a moment before pressing the playback button. The strange recording played, and he looked rather shocked. He stopped it early, then looked at Mike with a confused expression on his face.

 

 “I believe you. I think you're the first night guard to report anything like this. I don't really have much of an explanation for it, other than... Maybe old Fredbear doesn't like that he's been replaced by Freddy. Its messages sound rather disturbing, though... Hm. I will have to look into it.” He stated, going back to looking over the cameras one by one. Mike sighed and nodded. 

 

 “Let me know if you find out anything.” He said, making his way out of the office. Mike walked up to the front counter and finally came up close with Jeane, who always smiled at him as he left. “Hey, mind if I use the phone? I gotta call Yvonne and let her know she can take tomorrow night off.” He said, and she smiled and nodded. 

 

 “Sure, but to make an outgoing call you have to dial 9 first I think... Since it does calls to other phones here in the building too. I'm Jeane, by the way.” She said, hoisting the bulky phone into position so that he could use it. 

 

 “Thanks. I'm Mike, though you probably already knew that.” He said, returning her smile. He picked up the phone and dialed the number, and after a long pause he finally heard someone pick up on the other end. “Yvonne, it's Mike. Last night went just fine, so I think I'll cover your shift tonight so you can stay home and relax. … Yeah, no problem. See you later.” He hung up the phone with a light click as it laid in place. “So, Jeane, how long have you worked here?” He asked, just out of pure curiosity. Maybe she had seen something weird.

 

 “Oh, I'd say about two years now. My family is always asking me why I stick around when this place is so weird sometimes, but I like it here. My bosses are both super nice, the pay is decent, and the work is tolerable. I mean, sure, it has its moments... But most of the time, things are fine around here. I'm just glad I don't work the kitchen, I'd hate to have to clean up Chica's messes on a daily basis.” Mike nodded in agreement.

 

 “Yeah. The night shift sure is something else... It's creepy, and sometimes it's like I see and-”

 

 “Hear stuff?” Jeane cut in, knowing what he was going to say. “Yeah, that's normal I guess. None of us ever say anything to the bosses but... We all have our own weird stories. We think this place must be haunted or something.” She said, keeping her voice low.

 

 “Ah. Yeah... Well, I may have a few stories for you sometime. I've gotta get home and feed my dog, but I'll see you tomorrow morning when I get off work.” Mike said with a smile and a small wave of his hand. She smiled and waved back.

 

 “See you tomorrow, Mike.” 

  
  
  


 His return to work was not met with a blinking message light on the office phone this time. He felt a pang of disappointment, but he shrugged it off. He knew there wasn't going to be anything... Even if he really wanted something to be there. Mike sat himself down and did his usual tasks, starting slow and working at the pace of the animatronics that would inevitably try to kill him. The night started fast paced, and he was beginning to see why Yvonne would worry about someone new working a Saturday shift. The animatronic mascots were lively and ready to cause trouble, especially Foxy who started half way off his stage at 12:00. Mike was having a hard time keeping him at bay while also dealing with Bonnie constantly shuffling about in the hall. Mike's biggest concern, however, was keeping Freddy on the stage. He had been warned by Yvonne that once he left the stage, he could easily slip into the office without detection. That thought definitely made Mike nervous, and of course the moment he looked at the stage camera and saw no Freddy, he couldn't help but start to panic. He heard that deep laugh that Freddy had, and how it echoed through the whole building. He _ hated  _ that laugh, it always meant bad news. Mike made sure to keep his ears open to the sounds happening around him, knowing just when to close the door if he absolutely had to. 

 

 The night felt like it lasted an eternity. Mike was sweaty and anxious, doing everything he could to keep power consumption to a bare minimum. Foxy had come running a total of 5 times and it was only 4:30 AM, and Mike wondered just how much more that door could take before Foxy actually managed to break it. Chica had also been a real pain, she would come to the door time and time again to try and get in when Mike desperately needed to conserve power. It didn't even surprise him when he finally ran out of power at the end of his shift, and he had to wait through that awful silence...

 

 It seemed like Freddy took a while to get to the office, but Mike could hear the sound of the music coming closer and closer. The clock, barely visible, showed he had one whole minute left to survive. He stayed seated in the chair this time, perfectly still, until Freddy got to the door. His eyes lit up in the dark and stared in, not quite registering that there was something in the chair at first. But as soon as Freddy registered that there was something sitting in the chair, his music stopped and his eyes dimmed. Mike held his breath, waiting and hoping that 6 AM would arrive just in time. He felt panic rush over him when he felt large paws grab hold of his shoulders and lift him out of the chair. He kicked and punched and did everything he could to get free, but the mechanical bear wasn't going to let go. _ This is it _ , Mike thought,  _ this is how I die _ . He continued to struggle as Freddy dragged him out into the hall. No matter how hard Mike attempted to free himself, the bear had an iron grip on him. He could feel himself begin to hyperventilate out of sheer panic as he saw the parts and service door get closer and closer. The bear opened up the small room and found an empty suit, and was fully ready to shove Mike into it despite how his body would definitely not fit inside. Mike begged the bear to let him go, eventually losing his voice as his head was being shoved towards the many crossbeams and sharp metal parts inside the head of the suit. At that point, all he could do was close his eyes tight and hope it didn't hurt...

 

 But then, faintly, he could hear it... The chime of the clock. He felt the bear's grip loosen completely and he was able to scurry away from it, gasping for air now that the ordeal was over. He'd been so scared that he'd forgotten all about oxygen, and his hyperventilating didn't help. The bear moseyed back to its stage, completely forgetting all about Mike. It took him a while, but Mike finally calmed himself down enough to look around the room. The mess that had been left by Scott's death had been cleaned up, yet there was still a very gross smell in the room... It smelled like something was rotting. Mike looked around and only found a few empty suits, which seemed to be the source of the smell despite being completely empty. He decided he didn't want to know the source of the foul smell and left the room, not even waiting for his daytime replacement to arrive before leaving the building. He was happy to have a day off... And he strongly considered never going back.

 

 In the mail, Mike got an extra check from the pizzeria for working overtime. It was a nice thing to get, however he felt it didn't compensate for his near-death experience. But hey, it also said he got named employee of the month! Wow, he'd never been that before... But it didn't make him want to stay. Sadly, he knew he didn't have a choice... But he'd be sure to never cover a Saturday shift ever again. 


	4. A Girl and her Rabbit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy is ecstatic that her sister's boyfriend, Andy, had managed to find one of the actual animatronics from Freddy's. She quickly becomes emotionally attached to the gross, rotting rabbit, despite the warning signs. But Chris sees through to what it really is... And it doesn't like him one bit.

Amy woke up with a jolt. She wasn't in the bed she felt like she'd just laid down in... No, she was lying on a cold tile floor, in a dark room. When her eyes adjusted, she could see large shapes around her... Sitting up, she could then see they were all animatronic suits. They were along the walls, some heads sat on shelves and on a table in the middle of the room. She stood up slowly, and her hands felt something wet on the floor as she used them to push herself upwards. Once standing, she looked at her hands... And saw blood. In a panic, she realized the floor was covered in fresh blood, but from what she could tell, it wasn't hers. It seemed to be coming from one of the suits... But she didn't take the time to think of why. She only wanted out of this room. She rushed to the door, though no matter how hard she rattled the doorknob, it had been locked from the outside and wouldn't budge. She turned around to look for another way out, maybe a window or skylight, but found nothing but a room that now seemed so much smaller... 

 

The door opened. Someone with the key had stepped in before Amy even had a chance to turn around. Before she knew it, it had shut again, and there were hands on her shoulders... And she was too afraid to move. She felt warm breath on her ear as the man behind her began to speak.

 

“ _Now, how did you get in here?”_ He purred. His voice was deep, gravelly, and had a very prominent English accent. It made Amy shiver. _“I don't remember there being a young lady in here when I'd left.”_ Amy pulled away, turning to see the man behind her. She felt strange... Like she'd seen him before. Even his voice sounded familiar. He was tall, much taller than she was, and thin. His face was sharp in shape, but he had dark circles under his eyes. His skin was slightly wrinkled, showing age with the gray streaks in his brown hair. It looked as if he hadn't shaved recently, with patchy whiskers growing out over his chin. His eyes gazed down at her with a shocking lack of life – they were cold and dead, eyes you'd see on a dead body, almost. He had a crooked grin on his face, which looked frightening when accompanied by the blood spatters on his clothes. 

 

“I-I don't know how I got here, I woke up here. I don't even know where I am!” Amy cried, her voice shaking just as much as her body was. She stepped back and backed into the table, making a loud thump. She didn't know why she even felt so terrified, but she felt like a cornered mouse in front of a large, hungry cat. The man stepped forward, and she flinched, though unable to go back any further. She gripped the table in fear hard enough that her knuckles where white. 

 

“ _Now now, don't be afraid... You weren't afraid of me before. Don't you recall?”_ He said, his grin growing into a sick smile. She had no clue what he was talking about, and shook her head in response. _“I see. You don't know who I am... You have no idea where we've met before.”_ The man said calmly, taking another step forward. Unable to move, Amy stood still, but her whole body shook. He was now inches from her, looking down at her like she was some kind of toy.

 

“D-Don't... I...” She stammered, feeling her panic rise even more as he brushed her messy hair from her face with one hand. The feeling _burned_. She was about to protest, but then the hand trailed down to her neck and suddenly grabbed hold. She felt her windpipe get squeezed shut, and she grabbed onto his wrist with her hands in an attempt to get away. No matter how hard she tried, he wouldn't budge.

 

“ _Shhh... It will be over soon, dear Amy.”_ He said, nearly in a whisper. Amy had no idea how he knew her name... But that didn't matter to her at that moment. She could feel herself becoming light-headed, her vision blurring and her legs becoming weak. She hadn't even realized he'd practically bent her over the table as he strangled her, nor could she feel the sharp pain of the table jabbing her in the back. All she knew was the sudden numbness she felt, and the dead eyes that she stared into as her vision slowly went dark. 

Amy jolted awake with a gasp, breathing heavy as she sat up in bed. She held a hand on her neck, and felt her whole body shaking like it had been in her dream. It was just a dream... But she had been so sure it was real. She jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror on her vanity, looking close to see if she'd been affected physically. Her long raven hair was a mess, and she had tears streaming down her face. She had no bruising on her neck, no physical proof any of the dream had really happened. But she was so scared by it... That voice resonated in her mind. Who was that man? Amy really hoped this was only a result of reading too many books about murder, but something told her it was something else. Even though she'd never seen the man, he felt so... _familiar_. She'd have to talk about it to her new friend later... She was sure he'd listen to her troubles. 

 

 

 

Chris yawned and blinked slowly as his tired eyes gazed at the screen in front of him. He'd been sitting still for hours now, and was in more of a trance-like state now that he was trying not to fall asleep at work. He was watching absolutely nothing... There was nobody in the building besides him, and nothing to watch on the cameras. He was there just to sit and be there in case something caught fire, which made him a little angry. But he was being paid a decent wage, which made him take the job anyway. His best friend had opened up this horror attraction after planning things for a few months, and certainly had the money to pay for a useless security guard. He'd bought rights to anything found in the old building that was once a kids' pizza place, and was given permission to ransack the place by its owner. The rumors were that kids had been murdered there over thirty years ago, and his friend Andy was all over it. Andy loved creepy, scary things, and with rich parents, this guy was ready to set up an attraction that featured the local horror story. Chris wasn't much into creepy stuff, but he was supportive of his good friend.

 

Chris was startled when the door swung open and his friend Andy jogged in with a look of excitement. “Dude, today is gonna be our day! Yesterday we found this secret room, and today we're gonna pull all the boards down to get in and I'm so. Excited.” Andy said excitedly, a big, dumb grin on his face. Chris blinked slowly again, then nodded his head.

 

“Great, great. Maybe you'll find one of the creepy old mascots intact back there... I'm tired of staring at this ugly, limbless bear.” He said, motioning to the large bear torso and head on a mannequin stand in the corner. “You guys did a good job making this place super creepy, I could've sworn I'd seen it move a few times. I mean, I know it didn't, but the atmosphere is good, you know?” Andy laughed and leaned on the security desk. 

 

“Yeah, I hope we find one of those things. It's weird that they're all just parts now... Like, who took them apart? A jackass, that's who. Making my life difficult.” Andy said, answering his own question. He was an eccentric guy, and seemed more than excited about the day he was going to have. Chris was much less enthusiastic, but he still hoped they'd at least find something cool in this 'secret room'. “Anyway, you can leave whenever. 6AM is technically the end of your shift, you don't have to wait for Amy to come in to start decorating.” Andy added. “Have you met Amy? She's my girl's younger sister. I think she's a year younger than you.”

 

“No, I don't think I've met her. I've hardly met Krystal, she's always in and out as fast as you are and she never says anything past hello to me.” Chris said, sounding annoyed. Andy nodded, not bothering to even defend his girlfriend. 

 

“You'd like Amy. She's like... What did she call it, pastel goth? She likes pink and girly colors but she's also goth. Ever seen that before?” Andy explained, albeit badly. Chris looked at him funny, having actually heard of a 'pastel goth' before. 

 

“Yes, I know what a pastel goth is. Don't you ever go on the internet? I'm not even surprised Krystal's younger sister is like that though, I mean... Just look at Krystal. She's about as goth as you get. Who else loves dead stuff like she does?” Chris commented, making Andy laugh. 

 

“She _loves_ dead stuff. Probably even more than she loves me, which is saying something. Anyway, I gotta run. She's actually waiting for me over at the old building, so I gotta hurry over with my tools so we can pry open that room.” Andy said, straightening himself as he turned to walk out. On his way to the exit door, he turned for a split moment to wave goodbye to Chris. With a loud thud of the door shutting, the building was quiet again.

 

 

Amy walked into the creepy building while carrying her heavy bag of decorations, setting them down beside the door as she made sure it closed all the way behind her. She went to pass by the security office, but jumped a little when she saw someone was in there. Curiously, she poked her head in. She was somewhat short, only about 5'2” and had pitch black hair. It must've been long, since it was tied up into two large buns on her head. She had thick black eyeliner on her eyelids that extended out into a sharp point, a well-drawn cat-eye look that went with her looks. She had a round face and cute smile, with dainty features like small hands and ears. All in all, she was adorable. 

 

“Hey, you must be Amy.” Chris said with a small wave of his hand. He could tell, since she looked just like Andy had badly described. “I'm Chris, the night guard.” He said that as if it meant something, but she knew he didn't actually guard anything in the building. The real reason he was even there was to make sure the building didn't somehow catch on fire.

 

“Yeah, I'm Amy. Nice to meet you.” She said, smiling at him. Compared to her, he looked so plain. He had no real style of his own, just jeans and the Letterman jacket he wore, though it was based on a TV show he liked instead of actually meaning something. He usually wore some plain t-shirt underneath it. Even his hair was pretty plain in his eyes, even though it was a nice-looking undercut. Compared to her pink crop-top-esque sweater and black skinny jeans, matched by pink and black hi-top sneakers, his own outfit choices seemed so average. “Andy's told me about you. Can you believe he described you as 'this one really nerdy guy I know'? You're not at all what I expected.” Chris wasn't even shocked at that.

 

“Oh, yeah I can believe he said that. Sounds just like something Andy would say.” He replied, standing up finally to stretch. “I should be getting home, that was the most boring thing I've ever done and I'm exhausted.” He said, yawning. She shrugged. 

 

“Okay, I'll just be here working on making it look even creepier. I've got more drawings to put up, and I think I can at least get one of the old game cabinets to turn on. It probably won't work, but a creepy flashing or glitchy picture should be really cool.” She said. She liked to think of herself as an artist when it came to creepy, though in reality most of her drawings were really cutesy. She was great at drawing, but for some reason her love of creepy never touched her artwork.

 

“Cool, I'll see it all tonight I guess. I'll catch you later, Amy.” Chris said with a passing wave as he walked out of the building to his car. He was definitely looking forward to being home, where he planned on collapsing onto the couch and sleeping. Meanwhile, Amy rubbed her small hands together and got working on hanging more of the creepy old kids' doodles. Before getting to work, however, she set her speaker on the floor and started playing some upbeat music that would get her in the mood to really work.

 

It had been a long day of work by the time Amy heard the door of the building open, assuming it was her sister's boyfriend. She was sure it was him as soon as she heard his giddy chatter. Sounded like they'd found something _really_ good. She wanted it to be a surprise though, so she kept her focus on the string of glittery stars she was hanging along the ceiling of the arcade. Her concentration was quickly broken by Andy calling Amy's name. “Amy! Amy, come here, we need your tech expertise!” He called from the other room. She sighed and stepped down from the ladder, making her way over to where Andy was standing. Making it around the corner, she stopped when she saw a six-foot rabbit standing among the small group of people. It was... Ugly, to say the least. It looked moldy and torn up in places.

 

“Oh. My god. You found one!” Amy exclaimed, almost squeaking with excitement. Sure, it was ugly as sin, but that made it even better to her. In her eyes, it was cute. “Wow, it looks like a weird Bonnie! I've never even seen this one before!” She said as she trotted up to it, looking it over with excited curiosity. 

 

“I have no idea what it is, I've never even heard of a green rabbit before. Maybe it was an ugly reject.” Andy replied, a big grin on his face. Amy frowned at him.

 

“Hey! Don't say that, he's adorable! I mean, he kinda smells... But look at that round face, and that big smile! He's trying his best.” She argued, already feeling attached to this new attraction they'd found. “So he doesn't have a name?”

 

“Nah, not that I could find. Maybe Chris will learn something from these old tapes we found, I'm gonna make him listen to them since he has nothing better to do at night. They're like... Training tapes or something. But hey, first things first, I need you to get this thing working. I can't figure out how to turn it on, I don't no a damn thing about robots.” Amy placed her hands on her hips and huffed.

 

“And I do?” She retorted. “I can try. I'm good with computers, not robots. But I guess with something as old as this, it's probably the same stuff, right?” She said, looking first under the chin of the rabbit head. She jerked back, seeing a weird fleshy-looking head underneath. “Uh, Andy, what the _hell_ is that?!” She squeaked.

 

“I know, it looks so gross. I think it's just the animatronic skeleton head or something, it must've had a rubber cover at some point that's just gotten really gross over the years. Who knows how long it was in there?” He said, shrugging. Amy took a deep breath and looked again. It did look really gross, but the way the parts looked like they'd been built into the weird head made her begin to think that maybe it was just a weird design. She looked through a hole in the chest of the mascot, seeing a small button hidden under one of the ribs of the metal skeleton. With a gentle press, it clicked inward and the whole robot jerked for a moment. Amy stepped back, watching the rabbit's big, round eyes light up and look around. “Woah, cool.” Andy whispered, which made the rabbit's eyes dart to him.

 

“I can't believe it works. But this is really cool! It's the real thing!” Amy said, smiling big. The rabbit looked from Andy to her, and one of its ears twitched with a short grind of an old motor. “I dunno if it's gonna... You know, walk around and scare people, but his stare is creepy so that's good, right?”

 

“Yeah, I guess. I'm gonna go grab more stuff and bring it in before I head out, could you set up the tapes in the security office for me? I planned a date with Krystie tonight and I'm kinda running short on time.” Andy said, scratching his head. Amy frowned again, but nodded.

 

“You're not gonna really give me a choice, so... Sure. I'm gonna finish up in the arcade room, I've got a few more things to hang up before I'm done.” She said, walking back towards the other room. She stepped up onto the step-ladder she had set up and continued to hang up the string of stars. Realizing her music had turned itself off, she took a quick moment to pick a song and play it over her small speaker from her phone before she continued. Contrary to her gothic interests, she listened to music spanning anywhere from the late 70's to the mid-90's. Her favorite songs were always upbeat and cheery, the one currently playing being one of them.

 

She didn't hear Andy when he had left. All he really did after she'd gone back to work was bring in a box of old cassette tapes and a cassette player to go with them and set them on the desk in the security office. Her concentration was on her work, but a few times it was broken by the sound of a quiet shuffling. She would only pause for a short moment to listen, though as soon as she did, the sound would always stop, and she'd go back to working. Something bumped her ladder and made her lose balance, and she came falling backwards from it with a yelp. To her surprise, she fell against something kind of soft instead of falling flat on her back. Looking up, she saw the lit-up eyes of the rabbit staring right back at her.

 

Amy yelped again, scurrying away from the old machine. She backed herself into one of the arcade machines, which made her wince as the edge dug into her side. “M-Mister rabbit, you're not supposed to scare _me_ , I work here!” She said with a huff, trying to calm herself. She'd definitely been startled by it being there, but she didn't think it really meant to scare her at all. It was just a robot, and in her eyes, it didn't know any better. “Well... I guess this means you _can_ walk... Which is good. But let's be careful of other people, alright?” Amy smiled at the old rabbit, finally stepping forward from the arcade machine she'd backed into. “I wonder what your name is... Someone put a lot of love and care into you, I'm sure they must've named you, too.”

 

Her words seemed so kind, to be aimed at a robotic rabbit that had decayed over the years. The thought did cross her mind that it must've been locked in that secret room for a reason, but that reason could just be that whoever did it wanted to forget it was there. She felt kinda sorry for it. “I can't believe Andy would just call you ugly like that. I mean, you could use a little work on the outside, but you're still cute. You've got those big eyes, that big bunny nose, and who couldn't love that smile?” She said, stepping closer. “Andy can be so rude...” The rabbit only watched her, its eyes following her every move. “Okay, I'm gonna go back to working now... Don't knock me over again, okay?” Amy said with a wink as she stepped back onto the ladder. 

 

 

Chris walked in with a yawn, closing the door behind him. He turned around to walk down the hall and suddenly felt his fight-or-flight reflexes kick in as he let out a frightened yelp. Amy came running in from the other end of the hall to see what he'd been startled by, but was not shocked that he seemed more than scared of the huge rabbit staring him down. “Don't worry, he's not gonna hurt you. I've been with him all night and he hasn't done a thing. Well, besides wander around a little.” Amy explained. He seemed to reluctantly unfreeze from his flinched position and backed towards the security office, not taking his eyes off the rabbit. The rabbit kept its eyes locked on him as he moved, which didn't make him feel any better about the situation.

 

“Are... you sure? I feel like it wants to murder me, honestly.” Chris argued, hiding himself in the office. Amy walked past the rabbit and into the office, laughing. 

 

“Wow, I didn't think you'd be so scared of him. He's fine, I promise.” Amy said, leaning on the door frame. “That should keep you wide awake, though. Andy set something up for you to listen to while you're here tonight, I want you to pay good attention to it in case it mentions this big guy we found. We haven't a clue what his name is or why he was in there.”

 

“He- _It_ was probably put in there and sealed away because it eats people or something.” Chris spat, staring at the rabbit through the window of the office. It looked into the hall outside the room, and the rabbit stared right back at him. “Eugh, it's so gross... I can't believe you're gonna leave me alone here at night with it.” Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

 

“Anyway, there's that cassette player there and it's got old training tapes of some kind with it. Andy wants you to listen to those and let him know if there's anything interesting on them.” She said, changing the subject. Chris reluctantly peeled his eyes away from the creepy old rabbit to look at Amy.

 

“O-Okay, I guess. Man, I don't feel comfortable with this... But I'm getting paid well, so I guess I'll just take the stress... Why are you even still here? You've been here _all day._ Go home and chill.” Amy took his words into consideration, then yawned.

 

“Yeah, I have been here all day... Andy's kept me busy. I guess I wanted to see your reaction to our new friend, and tell you not to hit it with a bat or anything. Seriously, if you break it I'm gonna break _you._ ” She said with passion. He rolled his eyes. “Anyway... I'm gonna head out now that you're here. I didn't really notice how tired I am until you mentioned it. I'm probably just gonna lie in bed and pass out.” She walked out of the tiny hall in front of the office door and grabbed her now empty bag before turning to the rabbit. She walked up to it and patted its arm lovingly. “Goodnight, bunny. Don't eat the night guard, okay?” She giggled, walking to the door. “See you later, Chris!”

 

Chris watched as she left, only replying to her with a half-hearted wave. He could tell tonight was gonna be hell compared to his first one, especially with this creepy new rabbit mascot wandering around. As soon as Amy had left, he looked at it through the window again, and watched as its wide-eyed gaze met his own. It lowered its eyelids and tilted its head down a bit, changing its almost cheerful expression into something sinister. It send chills down Chris's spine... And confirmed his fear that this thing would be out to get him.

 

 

Amy crashed on her bed after her shower, her hair blow-dried and frizzy. She was in plush, soft pajamas, patterned with pink kittens. It took her no time at all to doze off, not even having the chance to crawl under the covers. It was just so nice to relax after a long day... 

 

_But she shortly woke up in a dark, cold room._


	5. He's Your Worst Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy bounces back from her nightmare just barely, but finds herself getting deeper into something she never should have gotten involved in. Something is different about the building now, something eerie and unsettling... And it seems Amy's the unfortunate target.

“Okay, I see how it's gonna be, ugly.” Chris said, watching on the screen in front of him as the huge rabbit managed to crawl into a vent. He'd already been at this for hours, keeping this thing far away from him. He clicked to the vent camera and shut the vent access, cutting off the animatronic's route to the office. He was frustrated, but was doing alright so far. He was able to play sounds over the speakers in each room – a system meant to be used during shows – and it lured the old machine to whatever room it was played in. To Chris, this only meant that it wasn't the smartest of robots, but he'd take what he could get. “Come on, I've got five minutes until my shift's over...” He groaned, watching as the rabbit made its way towards the office now that it had crawled its way out of the vent. He tried playing a sound in the next room, but in the short moment he was distracted, the rabbit was already looking at him through the window that offered a decent view of the security office from the hall. Chris looked up and jumped, nearly sending the chair into a backwards fall. He didn't dare take his eyes off the thing...

 

For what seemed like an eternity, the two stared each other down, until finally the ventilation alarm began to sound. Chris was startled out of his near-trance state, and turned his attention to the computer and reset the fans. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the rabbit move to the doorway. Chris spun the chair to face the doorway as it poked its head in, ready to bolt in case it got into the office. Lucky for Chris, at 6 AM sharp, the exit door in the hallway opened and Amy wandered in with her bag of supplies like she had the day before. She looked much more tired this time, however, with dark circles under her eyes and much messier hair. Without even hesitating, she stepped past the rabbit and into the office. 

 

“Morning, Chris.” She said, setting her bag on the desk. She yawned, then leaned against the wall. “How was your night shift?”

 

“God awful, that ugly killer rabbit thing has been out to eat my face the entire night.” He answered, motioning to where the rabbit had been. He was no longer there, and had wandered off down the hall. “Wh- oh forget it. That thing's dangerous, we can't let people wander around in here with that thing loose!” 

 

“Oh come on, maybe it doesn't like _you_ , but I was alone with it all day yesterday and nothing happened.” Amy argued, crossing her arms. “You listened to those tapes, right? Did you learn anything?” She asked, changing the subject. She was sure he'd continue to argue his point, but she wasn't going to have it. With a roll of his eyes, Chris decided to just drop the subject.

 

“Nah, it was all training for some kind of half-animatronic-half-suit thing. I guess at one point they had costumes with collapsible robot parts.” He answered, shrugging. “I'll listen to more tonight, but I'm pretty sure that's all they're gonna talk about.” Amy nodded, looking a bit disappointed.

 

“So... Nothing on the rabbit? No name at all?” She asked, as she'd hoped they would get some kind of clue as to where this thing came from. Chris shook his head, and she frowned. “Well then what do we call him? I can't just keep calling him things like 'Mr. Rabbit' or 'Bunny'. He needs a real name.” 

 

“Hell if I know, I'm perfectly fine calling him 'Ugly'. You should've seen the look it gave me when you left, it was like... That look of 'I'm gonna kill you if I get my hands on you', you know?” Amy rolled her eyes and huffed.

 

“Yeah right, the only facial feature he can move is his eyelids.” She said, defending it. “I think you're paranoid.” 

 

“ _Paranoid_? This thing was crawling in the vents to get me! Trust me, I think I know when something wants to murder me. Don't you remember the parts of the rumors that said the animatronics were killer or something? They'd stuff people into suits and they'd die because of crossbeams and stuff, and obviously this thing wants to _kill me_.” 

 

“Yeah, I remember that. It was because they didn't have a proper night mode. Trust me, I listened to the messages that Andy had found and I know the whole story. Even the newer ones just didn't understand that a person was supposed to be in the building at night.” She said, placing her hands on her hips. Chris sighed, annoyed that she seemed so determined to defend this creepy old animatronic rabbit. 

 

“Okay, so when you guys find me dead with my face bitten off or something, know that I fully intend to come back and haunt all of you like some kind of demonic entity.” He said, standing up. He placed his hands on his hips, staring Amy down as they stood with the same posture and stance. 

 

“Fine by me, I like ghosts. Ghosts like me. Hey, maybe that's it, maybe the rabbit's haunted by someone and they really really don't like you because you're a jerk.” She said, meaning it as a joke despite her tone. Chris ran a hand through his hair, hardly affecting the tight curls on the top of his head. 

 

“Sure, like that's actually a thing that happens. No, I think it's probably just as cursed as the rest of this stuff Andy found at Freddy's, which I get the feeling we shouldn't have disturbed in the first place. Like... I'm pretty sure I saw some weird kind of ghost thing in one of the cameras, it was like this plastic looking little kid, and I'm sure it's because whatever you guys brought in here has weird attachments.” Amy was surprised, and finally let her arms hang at her sides in a less aggressive and more neutral stance. 

 

“Really? You know, I think it could've been the Balloon Boy we took the audio from. That little kid voice that laughs and says hello is from that.” She said, now much more interested in the conversation now that it had to do with something really paranormal. If anyone was a complete nerd when it came to ghosts and the like, it was Amy. “Maybe all the kids that died followed us in. I mean, there was no real proof they ever actually died at the pizzeria, but they disappeared and were never found. So who knows?” 

 

Chris walked past her and into the hall, looking down it to see if he could spot the rabbit in one of the rooms. He couldn't see it from where he stood, but he still felt like it was watching him. “Well... I guess I'll find out, since I'm the night guy. I've gotta run though, I promised my mom I'd meet her for breakfast and she's the type to get up ridiculously early.” Amy nodded and unpacked some of her things from her bag onto the desk. She took out her speaker and turned it on, and it gave a happy little beep to say it was connected to her phone. 

 

“I'll catch you later, then. I dunno if I'll still be here when you get here tonight, I didn't sleep very well last night... I think I'm gonna leave early and sleep if I can. So I'll probably see you tomorrow morning.” 

 

“Yeah I could kinda tell you didn't sleep very well, you _look_ tired.” Chris commented, and she nodded in agreement. 

 

“I know. I had this really vivid nightmare, and I woke up absolutely terrified. So even though I had plenty of sleep, it wasn't even a little bit restful.” She explained, looking through her list of songs on her phone. Finally, she settled on a song and hit play.

 

“Oh, I know this song. Just by the intro... You listen to Skyhill?” Chris said, smiling. Amy was shocked he knew what it was.

 

“Yes! They don't have a lot of songs, but I love what they released. This one's my favorite... I hope it'll make me forget about that dream. I'd like to forget it ever happened, like... It was _that_ scary.” 

 

“Yikes. Okay, well... Hey, uh, text me if you need anything. Andy has my number if you need it. Sorry for being such an ass, I've had a long night.” Amy smiled at him, and nodded a little.

 

“I'll shoot you a text later. Maybe we can chat about music sometime.” She offered. He nodded and waved goodbye, heading out the exit door in a hurry. Amy got to work, walking into the arcade room with a small box of tools. She set them on one of the arcade cabinets, then knelt down to see if she could get the cabinet open. With a hard pull at the little door on the side, she managed to wrench it open.

 

 

“And this guy, I don't know who he was but he said he _knew_ me. He knew my name, and he said we'd met before. It was so creepy. He literally strangled me to death in my dream, and it sucked. Worst dream I've ever had. I mean, I've had nightmares before but this one seemed so real and-” She went on ranting, the animatronic rabbit standing perfectly still behind her as she worked to get the arcade cabinet to do _something_. “I never wanna have a dream like that again. I felt like I was prey to that guy, and that feeling was just so god awful. What makes it even worse is that I didn't even get answers as to why there was blood everywhere. It wasn't mine, so where did it even come from?” She looked up at the rabbit, as if it would answer her, and it only tilted its head slightly. Amy sighed, then turned her attention back to the wires inside the cabinet. “I know, you don't know anything either... But thanks for listening. I knew you were a nice robot.” 

 

The rabbit looked at the arcade cabinet she was working on. It seemed to contemplate something for a moment before raising a hand and smacking the side of it with surprising force. It rattled poor Amy who had her head shoved into the other side of it, and she went tumbling backwards out of it with a squeak. She looked scared at first, wondering why the rabbit decided to just swing its big paw into the old arcade cabinet, but then realized that somehow it rattled something into place on the inside. The screen had fluttered to life, and she stood up to look at what it showed. “How... Did you do that?” She asked, looking up at the rabbit. Once again, all it did was tilt its head slightly to one side in response. “Well... Thanks. That saves me a lot of time. Honestly I just wanna take a nap, I'm so tired.” Amy said with a heavy sigh, watching as a game demo played on the screen in front of her. It looked like it could've been Pacman, but it was noticeably different. 

 

Amy yawned, then thought about the possibility of taking a quick nap in the security office now that the arcade cabinet worked. The idea seemed too tempting, and she gave in and made her way towards the office. She sat herself in the swiveling chair and rolled it up to the desk, where she laid her head on her arm. She set an alarm on her phone before setting it beside her head on the desk and closing her eyes. 

 

“ _You know, napping when you should be working is dangerous.”_ A familiar voice said, and Amy sat up with a jolt to see who had said it. She turned, seeing the same man from her nightmare leaning against the office wall, hands in his pockets. He wasn't covered in blood this time, yet the sight of him terrified her.

 

“H-How!? Please tell me I'm dreaming, I don't want you to be real!” She whined. The man smiled.

 

“ _Don't worry. You're dreaming. But the real me is in the building with you. I know that's not at all what you wanted to hear, but the truth is that I'm very real.”_ He answered, watching as Amy almost squirmed as he spoke. 

 

“I don't understand... Who are you? How do you know me? Why are you appearing to me in my dreams!?” She asked, standing up from the chair with a determined swiftness. He stayed put, only shrugging in response to her questions.

 

“ _I heard you talking to the guard, you said you know the whole story. So you tell me... Who am I?”_ He said with a smile that sent chills down her spine. Suddenly, she wasn't confident any more... Even when standing, she only came up to the man's shoulders. The way he looked at her made her want to cry, it was as if she was being toyed with. 

 

“Y-You're not the phone guy, his voice sounds different... A-Are you the owner of Freddy's or something? I knew this place was gonna end up haunted, but not by someone actually from those creepy stories... Wh-Why are you doing this to me? Why am I important?” He let out a short laugh.

 

“ _No, I'm not the owner. He's still alive. I suppose you could say I... Worked at Freddy's. Since the beginning. As for your other questions, well, I just don't know if I can give you a reason.”_ He went on, taking his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. _“Just accept that I've decided I like you. You said you like ghosts, didn't you? Well, now you've got one that really does like you.”_ Amy wasn't sure how to react. Somehow, this man had heard her conversation with Chris. If he really was a dead man, then how was he in the building? Maybe he was attached to something they'd brought in...

 

Amy bolted out the office door, running down the hall towards the arcade. She hoped the friendly rabbit would be able to protect her from this man, but when she came into the room, she found it empty. It had wandered off. Distracted by sudden disappointment that it wasn't there, she didn't hear the man approach her from behind. He grabbed onto her arm, making sure she couldn't run.

 

“ _Dear little Amy, looking for her friend... He can't save you from me. Not here.”_ He said. She turned to him, trying to pull away, but his grip was strong. She already knew that... In her last nightmare, he'd strangled her with only one hand. She put her free hand to her neck as she thought about it. _“Are you afraid I'm going to hurt you?”_ He asked, and she found it very hard to answer. She was shaking, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. _She couldn't breathe._ Why was she suddenly feeling as if she was suffocating? She placed her hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath, her eyes never leaving the man. 

 

“L-Let me go...” She huffed weakly. 

 

“ _I already did. It's best you wake up, Amy... I don't want you to die just yet. Wake up and see the real world.”_

 

Amy woke up with a gasp, still feeling unable to breathe. There was a red light blaring, and there was a gentle buzz to go with it. _The ventilation._ She fumbled with the computer until she was able to reset the fans, and slowly felt like she could breathe again. She looked around, but there was nobody... Even in the cameras, her only company was the rabbit that had wandered into the closet. She let out a sigh of relief, then looked at her phone... It had only been five minutes. She dialed her sister and immediately told her about her dreams, and begged her to come and keep her company. “I'm out of town right now, Amy, I can't. I'm sorry you're scared.” Krystal said, trying to console her younger sister. Amy eventually at least got Chris's phone number from the call, but nothing more... Suddenly, Amy felt upset, like the emotions of her dream had finally caught up to her. A flood of tears began to run down her cheeks and she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

 

Amid her shaking and sobbing, she hadn't heard the rabbit enter the room. It shuffled its way over to her and pat her on the head, and she looked up at it with shock. Its half-lidded eyes made an expression that to her looked like something comforting, and for a moment the pain drifted away from her. As it came flooding back again, she jumped out of the chair and gave the large rabbit a tight hug, ignoring how terrible it smelled, and continued to cry. It rested its hands on her back and let her cry into its chest.

 

 

“Andy, I'm really worried.” Krystal said with genuine concern in her voice. She sat across a small table from Andy, who was eating a burger. “She sounded so upset, maybe we shouldn't let her be in there by herself. I mean, I know she's not a little kid or anything, but... She's sensitive to stuff like this.” Andy nodded as he swallowed his mouth-full of food. 

 

“It's weird to hear her panic like that. She's like, super into this stuff so whatever she's going through must really scare her.” He said, then took a sip of his soda. “Maybe we should just tell her to take it easy and stay home tomorrow.” He suggested. Krystal nodded in agreement, sighing as she did so.

 

“Yeah... I can't imagine what's going on in those dreams, but whatever it is, it's making her a mess. Maybe we should go back early today...” She suggested, resting her chin on her hand. She could tell the suggestion wasn't something Andy really _liked_ , but he sat and considered it.

 

“Maybe. We have important stuff to do, but if we get done early then we'll head straight back and check on Amy. If we really gotta, we could always make Chris do it.” He said.

 

“Yeah, you have a point. I'll shoot a text Chris's way and tell him to go check up on her when he can. If he's not already asleep at home.” Krystal pulled her phone from her pocket and opened her messages, and took a short moment to send a vague text to Chris before setting the phone on the table. “I just hope this isn't all just because of Freddy's. I mean, if it was, wouldn't we all be having weird dreams or something?” Andy nodded again, mouth full of food again. It might've been obvious that he wasn't quite as concerned about Amy as his girlfriend was, but Krystal ignored it. She tried her best to see the good in her long-time boyfriend, even if he could be a complete jerk sometimes. But her mind was more focused on her younger sister now. Krystal just hoped nothing serious was going on, and that it wasn't their fault for bringing her into the whole Fazbear's Fright project.


	6. You're Not In This Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy finds out it's not just one ghostly being that's been disturbed by the horror attraction. She meets a friend, a comfort to many in years passed, who is willing to help her escape from her torment.

Chris pushed open the door to the building, still not quite used to the stark difference between the outside and the inside. Outside, it was a fairly new and decent-looking building, yet on the inside it looked abandoned and eerie. Of course, that's for the best, since abandoned and eerie was just the look they had been going for. He walked into the office and found Amy, wiping her reddened cheeks dry with her sleeve, leaving a bit of a streak of makeup. She sniffled and smiled at him, waving as he stepped in. He was ready to walk over to her, but stopped when his eyes found the old rabbit that lurked nearby. It was just behind her, its head tilted as if curious as to why he was there. Its sinister expression seemed non-existent – and it now resembled the cheery, round-faced mascot it once was. It always seemed to be like that when Amy was around... Chris began to wonder if she just had a way with machines. “Don't worry, he's fine... I-I wanted him in here, really...” Amy said, her voice sounding a bit unsteady as she spoke. “I didn't want to be alone...” Hesitantly, Chris walked over to her, despite being so close to the animatronic rabbit now. He leaned on the desk, glaring at the innocent-faced rabbit before looking at Amy.

 

“What's up? Krystal texted me and asked me to check up on you. You sound pretty shaken up.” He said, hoping she'd be comfortable enough with him to share whatever it was that was making her so upset. She sighed, sniffling again as she went to answer.

 

“You know how I said I had a bad dream last night...? Well, I figured I'd take a nap here at the desk so I could do more work today instead of leaving early, and... Well, it was like... The same dream. But worse.” She said, her voice quiet, as if she feared talking about it might make it reality. “I fell asleep, but I was immediately woken up again by someone. This guy, he has a very distinct voice... It's deep, rough and he has a very proper English accent. He was the same man from my dream last night, and he'd... Strangled me to death in that dream. But this time he was just talking to me, but it seemed so real... Everything was as it should've been, nothing in the office had changed, but he was _there_. I tried to run but he grabbed me... But he didn't do anything to me. I don't think he had the chance... The ventilation had failed and I woke up practically suffocating. But just before I woke up he said something like... 'I don't want you to die just yet'. It was really scary...” Chris frowned, but wasn't quite sure how to help her with this. It was just a dream, right? 

 

“But it _was_ just a dream. He's not real, he can't hurt you.” He said, hoping to reassure her that she was fine. “I think all this horror stuff is going to your head... You must've seen him in a movie or something and your mind is just playing tricks on you.” 

 

“No, this is weirder. It's like he knows something I don't, like he's playing some kind of sick game. H-He makes me feel like I'm... Some kind of play-thing... I just know he'll be there when I go to sleep tonight. He's waiting for when I fall back asleep.” She argued, a bit hurt that he didn't take it as seriously as she wanted him to. It made more tears fall from her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. “I've never felt so afraid...”

 

“I'm... Sorry. I really am, Amy. I wish there was something I could do, but... If its all in dreams, then I can't do anything about it. If this guy were real, you bet I'd kick his ass for scaring you, but he's... You know...” Chris said, sighing. “Well... I think you need a break. Do you wanna go home? Or... We could go to my apartment, you sound like you don't wanna be alone... I've got some games we could play to get your mind off all of this. Or we could watch something.” He suggested, though his offer was a little all over the place. She slowly stood and nodded.

 

“Let's go to your place... I don't wanna be by myself. Not right now...” She said, turning to the old animatronic. She hugged it, and Chris made a face of disgust as she wasn't looking. “Thanks, Mr. Bunny. I'll see you tomorrow.” She said, giving the rabbit a smile before she turned and walked out with Chris. She wished she knew its real name, but the affectionate 'Mr. Bunny' would have to do for now.

 

 

_'What a sweet girl she is...'_

 

 

By the time Amy had gotten home, she was more than exhausted. Her older sister gleefully ran over to greet her as she walked in the door, giving her a tight hug. “Amy! I'm sorry I couldn't come and help earlier... Chris updated me. You look so tired...” She said, sounding more like a mother than a sister. She had a habit of doing that, since they'd grown up without their mother, and she would always be the one to stand in. “I know you don't wanna go to sleep, but... Maybe try falling asleep to a comedy show on TV tonight. That should keep your mind off it.”

 

“I'll try... This is like a bad curse, I just want it to be over...” Amy replied, stepping away as soon as she was free from the hug. She slowly made her way to her bedroom and practically collapsed onto her bed, taking a short moment to turn on the TV across the room. She turned the volume low, and changed the channel to something light-hearted before she dozed off, the remote still in her hand. It had been such a struggle to stay awake all day, and she felt terrible that Chris had to work a night shift after spending the day with her. But regardless of her fear or concerns, she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

 

To Amy's dismay, she woke up in that place again. Not the same room, but the floors were the same... She immediately stood up and looked around, finding herself alone in a large hallway. She quickly walked towards one end, which opened up into an even bigger dining hall with a stage. It had two animatronics on either side, recognized immediately. Freddy and Bonnie, from the actual Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The original ones. She'd only ever seen pictures, and yet these looked so lifelike... But in the pictures, there was always three. Where was Chica?

 

Her thought had been answered quickly as a padded hand latched onto her shoulder from behind and yanked her around, bringing her head within inches of a wide-open beak that seemed poised to chomp down. Amy screamed, but something else yanked her in the other direction and away from Chica as she brought her jaws to a close with a loud clang. Stunned, Amy was practically dragged away by whoever it was grabbing onto her wrist before she was able to keep up her footsteps. Her eyes were glued to Chica, who seemed to follow slowly, open-mouthed like she was hungry. It didn't immediately occur to her she was being lead away by someone.

 

And then it hit her. _Who was leading her away?_ She didn't get a chance to look before she was pulled into a room and shoved further in, as the mystery person closed and barricaded the door with a shelf. She looked at the figure, but it was dark... She couldn't make out any features. Fear immediately hit her when she realized it might just be the same man she was afraid of running into again. She backed up, but found she didn't have much space to stay away from this mysterious figure that was now turning to look at her. “Y-You stay far away from me! I'm done playing your stupid game!” She shouted. The figure shook its head.

 

“Hey, now, I know this was sudden but I'm not who you think I am.” He said, his voice definitely much different than the one she feared. It was almost nervous sounding... But cheerful. “He's here, but I think I can keep you hidden. This... _is_ his domain, now, but... I'm going to do what I can.” He continued. “I'm keeping the light off. You don't wanna see me, trust me. It's not pretty. But I'm a former employee of this establishment, if it helps... I've seen what he's doing. I thought he'd be gone, but all these years later he just waltzes back like he was never gone...” 

 

“A-Are you sure you can't turn the light on? I don't care if you have bad self esteem or whatever, I just... I know this is a dream, I need to be sure you're not him...” Amy said, still sounding pretty hostile. She wasn't about to let him fool her, not after the last two encounters. 

 

“Uh, look, I know you're scared, but... My face is kinda messed up. I mean, I don't... I don't have eyes. It looks gross.” He said, but Amy wasn't going to take no for an answer. She was so insistent on being _sure_. She bolted over and felt around for the switch, and flicked it on when she found it. A light flickered on, and she shuddered when she saw the figure in the light. He wasn't lying... He had no eyes. His nose looked broken, and his face was bloody. He had somewhat visible freckles, which matched his messy, unkept ginger hair. He was tall and lanky, but a little more shy in his mannerisms than the other man that was determined to make her life hell. He looked heavily frightened by the light and covered his face. “I-I warned you! I'm sorry...” He said, and Amy felt a pang of guilt. 

“It's fine, you can uncover your face... It was just shocking at first, that's all...” She said, and he hesitantly moved his hands away from his bloodied face. “Who... are you? Why do you look like that?” She asked. “My ghost theory must be right...”

 

“M-My name's Scott. I worked for the company since... Well, the beginning. I uh... I look like this because I got shoved into an animatronic suit that wasn't meant to be worn by a person...” He answered, shoving his hands into his pockets. “On my last night, too. Funny, isn't it? I always trained new guys, I was an off-and-on security guard for the place and I even did the training tapes on the old spring-lock suits. Employee of the month, every month.” Amy nodded as he spoke.

 

“It's... nice to meet you, Scott. I'm Amy. Can you tell me about... that guy?” She asked, and he shrugged.

 

“Kinda... His name is William. He was one of two managers here at Freddy's, since before it was even Freddy's. He did the business side of things... Decent guy when we first met. But back then we were both young, maybe in our mid twenties... Things really changed after a few years went by.”   


“But why is he going after me...? Why does he have to make my life hell?” She asked, begging for the answer. 

 

“Well, I think... He's just trying to get used to being... Dead. He was gone a good thirty or so years after he died, I watched the other manager seal his body away in the safe room... Where he should've stayed. But all those years of being trapped by himself in there, I think he's gotten lonely... And since you're so genuinely nice, I think he just... Likes you.” Scott answered, seeming only half-sure of what he was saying. Amy wasn't sure what to make of it. She was being haunted by the ghost of a manager at this pizzeria, who seemed bent on killing her after she couldn't take any more mental abuse. And his explanation was that he was simply _lonely_.

 

“Well he can go bother someone else, I want my normal life back.” She said, sternly. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. Scott frowned.

 

“I wanna help you achieve that, Amy. But he's... Not just a normal guy. I mean... There's something almost supernatural about him, and he's using the power he's taken from the kids to do all of it. He's not gone like Henry wanted... Like we all wanted... He's making his way back into the world, where he doesn't belong. I honestly don't think there's much left of William... Not the person. What's going after your guard and you, it's... Just what's left. All the care and joy, the love and passion... It's all gone from him. I think he had been consumed by all that jealousy and hatred long before he ever died... And now that it's been so long, I'm sure he's lost his real self. Maybe the old William is hiding somewhere, probably sad and ashamed and lonely... Or maybe he's gone forever. I don't know everything.” Amy stood shocked by what he'd said. It was a lot to take in, but she took note of every word. 

 

“What do you mean by... He's using the power taken from the kids? You mean those kids really did die?” She asked. “And you said he was going after Chris too?” Scott nodded slowly.

 

“Yeah. He'd started with the other manager's kid, and just kept... killing. I think he snapped after his wife died, probably felt like Henry had it all... But it got out of control. And now these poor kids are just tools... Well, most of them. Charlotte would never let herself become one... If you ever need a guide, ask the puppet. As for your guard, yeah... He's in danger too. Every guard is stuck, I don't want him to end up like us... Me, Mike, Jeremy, Fritz, we're all trapped here. I don't mind, but they do... And if your night guard gets too involved, he's gonna end up like us someday. Part of this... curse.” 

 

This all was a lot to take in. But she had names now... Names that she could look up when she woke up in the morning. She slid her back down the wall and sat on the floor, sighing. Scott sat across from her, and she felt like he'd be looking at her if he still had his eyes. It seemed like he was still able to see without them, but that was the mystery of being dead, right? “I'm so... Blown away by all of it. This makes it so real... Before this, Freddy's was just an urban legend kind of tale, but now... Now I know. Those kids really did die there... Here. And so did you... And we're just making it into a big horror attraction. No wonder we stirred something up... I wonder how Andy ever got the approval for any of this.” 

 

“I think... Henry has a plan. He's still alive. I think he wanted to let it all get stirred up... And, sadly I think he wanted William to be let out of that prison. I don't know why, or what he's planning... But hey, if uh... If you see him, you should tell him uh... That Scott said h-hello hello.” He said, and at first Amy thought he may have a stutter of some kind. But... No, that just sounded right coming from him. “You'll recognize him... He always wears flannel. And he kinda looks like how you'd think Freddy would look if he were a person.”

 

“I'll tell him that if I get a chance. But that would sound weird... But I'm not going to deny a request from a dead guy, that'd be rude.” She said, smiling. “Thanks for trying to help, Scott... I'll try to do some research on you when I wake up. I think I'm gonna have to do a lot of research and put up some kind of memorial outside the attraction... I think it needs to be done.” Scott smiled at her comment, and nodded. 

 

“That would be nice, yeah. We'll appreciate it.” He replied. “Speaking of... I think it's about time you wake up anyway. You didn't set an alarm like you should've and you're late.” He said, and Amy froze. _Her alarm,_ she never set it! The sudden overwhelming anxiety pulled her right out of the dream and back into reality, and she sat up in her bed. She first raised up the TV remote instead of her phone, but realized what it was after staring at it for a good few seconds. Unlocking her half-dead phone, she saw it was only 4:50 AM... Ten minutes before she always set her alarm. He'd said she was late just to shock her out of sleep... That was nice of him. Amy laid back with a flop and stared at her ceiling, her mind a bit of a blur. She couldn't really remember her dream... But she remembered a guy, his name was Scott... and he wanted her to do something. She couldn't even remember what it was... 

 

“ _Tell him uh... That Scott said, H-Hello-hello.”_

 

It echoed from the back of her mind. She couldn't even remember who he'd wanted her to tell it to... But maybe it would come back to her. Why had she even been talking to him? Who was he? Nothing was floating up from the depths of her mind to answer her questions, and it was making her frustrated. It seemed so unfair that she'd have a pleasant dream, only to not be able to remember the details. But then...

 

“ _If you ever need a guide, ask the puppet.”_

 

What did that mean? Why did she remember it? Amy sighed and sat back up, pulling the hair ties and hair pins from her hair to let it fall loosely. It was a tangled mess, which she dreaded having to deal with in the next half-hour. She'd have to find out what 'the puppet' was. Was he referring to the creepy toy puppet thing that was in so many drawings? 

 

Forcing her mind from her dream, she got up and out of bed and walked out of her room to the kitchen. She felt tired, but not the same kind of tired that she'd been before. It was like she actually got rest through the night. Soon, she'd find out that poor Chris didn't have the same luck... And had the opposite of a restful night. As she made her coffee, he was frantically trying to keep the animatronic rabbit away from him, as it seemed to be desperate to kill him as soon as he'd gotten into work. But she didn't know that... As far as she was concerned, it was harmless and cute, and needed love. 


	7. He Heard The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the workers at the Fazbear's Fright Horror Attraction struggle with personal and supernatural struggles, a man much closer to the original incidents awakes from a very strange dream. He comes to the conclusion that it is time he gets a new job, something he has put off for a good thirty years.

Pictures lined the walls of the house in every room, from the entryway to the upstairs hall. Family photos beginning back in 1955 and onward, showing the growth of two families that merged into one. A young ballerina grows up to be a scientist, and a young and pampered boy grows up to be a tech genius. They get married, have a son, and then a daughter, and it's all told through the photos. A happy family that once occupied the house, which now was cared for by a single occupant. He never changed anything, the wallpaper was still vintage, as was the décor and the television in the living room. It all seemed untouched, but that was how he wanted it to stay. It kept the memories of his childhood strong, despite all that had happened. Sometimes it hurt to look at... Other times, it made him smile. But most of the time he didn't pay attention.

 

Michael was lying awake in his bed upstairs, one arm hanging off the side of the bed. It was late at night, and he'd woken up from a very strange dream. His life had been so void of excitement that his dreams had gone boring as well, but this one was much different. Something was happening that he was somehow supposed to be part of, and he had a bad feeling that he knew what needed to be done. He'd put it off since the day his father disappeared.

 

_It was too dark to see. Or was it? There was nothing there, but he could vaguely see figures... But it seemed more like an illusion than something actually there in front of him. There was a blur of sharp teeth, a flash of light reflecting off of a white, long snout, and a mechanical scream. Then there was music... The soft, gentle sound of a music box. An obnoxious laugh, and a soft, sweet voice. And... So much blood. A flash of his own memory, blood leaking from the torso of a robotic mascot. A rush of paramedics, people trying to shake him out of a daze, and then screaming. His own screaming, directed at his own father. The devastated, hopeless look of his father hung in his mind briefly, before the whole scene faded._

 

“ _You're too old to be having nightmares.”_ He thought to himself, sighing. _“You're nearly fifty. God, I'm almost fifty years old...”_ Michael rolled to one side, yawning. He was about to doze off when his phone began to ring, and he quickly rolled back to pick it up off the desk beside him. He rolled too far and fell out of bed with a heavy thud and an exasperated whine as he finally reached his phone. Looking at the screen, it read the name 'Julia'. He answered quickly, feeling glad it was only his friend and not some random number. 

 

“Mike! Hey, my ride home bailed on me...” A cheerful voice said. It felt rather soothing to hear her after a nightmare like that. 

 

“No problem, Jules, let me get dressed...” He replied sleepily. “I just woke up, I'll be a few minutes.”

 

“Oh no, did I wake you up? Sorry, Mike... My car's going to be done at the shop tomorrow, I promise it won't happen again.” 

“Don't worry about it, I was awake already. I'll see you in a little bit.” He replied, and they exchanged their goodbyes before he hung up. He rested his head on the side of his bed for a moment, feeling a bit dazed. He briefly thought of the dream again before standing up and stretching, several of his joints popping in the process. 

 

He made his way down the stairs after getting dressed, quickly walking to the door in the corner of the living room. As soon as it was open, the smell of dust and grease hit him like a truck. It made him sneeze as he walked in. With the flick of a switch, the room lit with a dim glow from a single, old fluorescent light, revealing the mess of metal parts and tools scattered over workbenches and the floor. He never went in here... But he had to grab something important. He walked to a workbench and reached under it, taking hold of a dusty notebook full of sticky notes, a few of which had fallen out over the years. Carefully, he opened it to a page near the back, and scanned the page. It was a note specifically to him from the owner of the notebook, and he'd first found it many years ago. As he read the message, he felt as if he were twenty years old once more, reading it for the first time. A month had gone by where his father had very suddenly gone missing, and he was searching for some sort of clue in his notebooks scattered with designs for animatronics and stage props. That was when he'd found the note left in this notebook, for him to find when the day came that his father was no longer around.

 

_Michael, if you're reading this now, either I'm gone and you're searching for answers, or you're snooping in your old father's notes. I hope it's the former. If it is, then keep reading._

 

_I knew I wouldn't have many more years ahead of me. After the accident, my body was frail and year after year it was becoming a chore to breathe. Even if it wasn't natural causes, I had it coming... We both know why. I am in no way a perfect man, nor am I by definition a good person, but despite my flaws and terrible deeds I hope I was able to be a good father to you. I didn't get much of a chance with your sister. Her death was most certainly my fault, you were right to accuse me all those years ago. Though I had no intention to ever hurt either of my own children, my decision to create a monster with the intention to kill is what ruined the happy family that we had. I will never ask for your forgiveness in anything I have done. But I will ask that you do me a favor... When the time comes, I want you to work as a technician for those old robots. I want you to make sure they're holding up, and... I wish for you to put_ _**her** _ _back together. It's asking a lot of you, I know... And it's vague. But I know you're going to grow into a very strong man, and I know I can trust you with this task. You'll know when the time comes._

 

_I'm sorry I've left you, most likely suddenly and without warning. I want you to know that despite everything, I love you. I'm very proud of you. And I wish you the very best in your adult life. You've been so strong through everything that has happened, when any other child would have broken. You're an incredible person, and I'm proud to call you my son. I'm sorry I can't give you the answers you probably desire to know. In due time, you'll know._

 

_Best of luck._

_-Dad_

 

He snapped out of his daze, realizing he'd taken so much time to read it all and let it settle that he'd forgotten all about picking up his friend from work. She'd surely understand when he told her, but for the moment he was sure she'd be mad at him. He rushed out to his car in a panic, which was quick to fade. After all, he knew how she'd react. They'd been best friends since they were little kids. Julia had practically lived with him at times when her step father would abuse her. His house was a safe place for her, and it was as if his father was the father she'd always wanted. It was shocking to Michael that they'd stayed friends long after their teenage years, though neither of them had many other friends to spend time with. And after all these years, she still worked for his father's company as the receptionist, a position she'd originally been hired for at eighteen. She'd taken a ten year break to work for the local library, but got the position back with the company after the library cut back her hours too much.

 

When he got to the building, she impatiently hustled over to the passenger side of his car and got in with a huff. “What took you so long?” She asked, sounding just as annoyed as he'd expected.

 

“Sorry, I... Well, it's kinda hard to explain. Am I taking you straight home?” He replied, dodging her question the best that he could. He'd tell her when they were able to sit and chat, but not while they were in the car.

 

“Actually, I have something I need to tell you about. Can we go back to your place?” She said, and he nodded.

 

“You could've just walked... It's only a few blocks. Though it is pretty cold outside.” He said, driving back out of the parking lot in the direction that he'd come. “Is it something serious?”

 

“Serious to you, I think. I found a pamphlet today for a nearby amusement park, and... Well, one of the attractions is something you might wanna hear about.” She said, glancing at the pamphlet in her hand. She'd give him more details when they were comfortable back at his house. It took him almost no time at all to make it back home, and she quickly hopped out of the car and went inside before he even had a chance to lock the car. When he went inside, she was already sitting on the sofa, obviously anxious to tell him whatever it was she wanted to say. He sat beside her, and she laughed, which made him make a rather confused face. “Your hair is a mess.” She said, answering his unspoken question. “Anyway... Why were you so late?” She asked again, wondering if now that they were comfortable he'd tell her.

 

“Well... Just before you called, I'd woken up from a weird nightmare... I never have nightmares. It was cryptic at first, just flashes of images that kinda reminded me of the animatronics at Circus Baby's. But then it was a replay of the day my sister died... And that's it. It reminded me of the note my father left for me... You know, the one I found about a month after he disappeared. So I went back to read it, and I thought it wouldn't take me that long, but I guess I kinda got caught up in thinking...” Julia nodded, satisfied with his answer. She took a short moment to adjust her large glasses before speaking.

 

“I remember you telling me about it... You never would tell me what it said. Did... Did you ever find out what happened to him?” She asked, hesitating a bit as she spoke. 

 

“Not really. I went to check at Freddy's, but when I got there I couldn't check the whole building. The safe room had been completely sealed off. I've always wondered what was back there that someone was trying to hide... But no, I never found out anything more. He just... Disappeared. But... The note implies he was expecting to die not long after writing it. Not like a suicide note, but... He was in bad health.” He said, scratching his head. It felt awkward to talk about it all these years later, and he didn't feel like he wanted to ruin her perception of his father by telling her what the note was really about. She didn't need to know the truth. “So, what was that about the pamphlet?” He asked, changing the subject. She held it up and unfolded it, revealing a whole section advertising a soon-to-be-open horror attraction. The photos were disturbingly familiar to him... As was the main feature of the attraction, an animatronic rabbit.

 

“When I saw it... I couldn't believe it. It's real, they're really making it. It's like... The whole thing was just a big scary story told around a camp fire to these people. They're making a joke out of what really happened.” She said, finally expressing her anger at it. She'd been holding it in since she found it, and it felt great to let it out. “What a horrible thing to do.”

 

“How... How did they find it?” He mumbled, staring at the photo of the rabbit. Julia hummed in question, but he didn't hear. “How did they find it if the animatronics were taken out? It should be in a dump somewhere.” He continued, taking the pamphlet from her hand. “I wonder if it even still works...” 

 

“I know... It's the oldest of them, isn't it? Well, besides... Fredbear. It looks like they got it working, though. I did some research and it sounds like they cleared the old Freddy's building with permission from the owner.” Julia explained. She knew why he seemed so concerned about the rabbit... It was his father's, after all. Well, it was the company's, but he would wear that suit. It was that very suit that caused the accident that nearly killed him when they were little kids. To see it being used in a horror attraction based on everything they'd been through, she couldn't imagine how he felt. Especially since it wasn't just his father's suit, the whole attraction was based on something he really went through. His friend was one of the victims. She was sure it made him furious. After a long moment of silence, she slowly took the pamphlet back and set it down on the coffee table, folded up. “Yeah, so... That's why I wanted to show you.”  


“Thanks... I appreciate it.” He replied, sighing. “Hey, so this is a little off-topic, but... Are there any openings for a technician?” He asked, and she looked a bit shocked. She honestly had expected him to work as one years and years ago, but understood why he wanted to stay away. 

 

“Yeah, there is, actually. And I'm sure you'd get the job, I mean... You're the son of the man who built those robots. Plus you did go to college for this sort of thing.” She said, shrugging. “We just had someone quit... Third one in the past few months.” That fact didn't shock Michael in the least. It was more than a dangerous job... It could easily be deadly. But he knew exactly why. Those machines were built to kill, and they did just that. But of course, he was the only one who really knew the truth. “Are you sure you want to work there...? I'd be so worried about you every night.”

 

“I'm sure. Part of that note he left me asks me to do something that involves working there, and... It mentions to do it 'when the time comes'. He didn't specify anything, but I think that dream I had meant something... So I'm going to go through with what he asked of me. Even if it's dangerous.” He said, his tone turning serious. “But don't you worry about me, Jules. Even if I do get hurt or... worse... You're not losing much. You'd probably be better off without me, since-” Julia cut him off with a firm punch to the arm. 

 

“No. Don't even start. That's all in the past, I've gotten over it and you really need to remember just how important you are to me. Stupid crush or not, you're my best friend! God, forty years and you still doubt yourself. You're just as bad as your dad was-”

 

“ **Don't** compare me to him.” He said, cutting her off. She was a little shocked, and he immediately felt bad for snapping at her. “I'm sorry... I'm just... Touchy on the subject, that's all. Everyone always says things like 'you look just like your dad' or 'you've grown up to be just like your dad' and I can't stand it... I'm not him.” 

 

“I feel like I'm missing something here, Mike... I thought you liked your dad. Did something happen between you two...?” She asked, lowering her voice a bit. He shook his head.

 

“I... can't tell you, Jules... You wouldn't want to know. You like him so much... I would hate to ruin all of the good times you had with us. And trust me, this... secret... is dark enough to ruin everything you thought about him.” Michael spoke with a grim tone, keeping eye contact with Julia. She furrowed her brow and frowned. She wanted to know, but at the same time, she did want to keep those happy memories. 

 

“Okay... I'll let you keep your secret for now.” She agreed, hugging him tightly. He returned her hug, smiling. 

 

“Thank you... And I promise not to die on the job.” He said, which made her giggle.

 

“You better not. Otherwise I'll have to learn necromancy and bring you back from the dead just to smack you for breaking your promise.” She joked. They shared a good laugh, then eventually settled down. She yawned and stretched. “It's getting late... I've gotta go home and sleep.” She said, standing up from the sofa. “It was nice talking, though. I'm looking forward to seeing you every day.” Mike stood up with her.

 

“Me too. Alright, let's get you home before you fall asleep.” He said, patting her shoulder as they both walked out to the car. 

 

 

 

Mike's drive back home was short, but felt very lonely now that Julia was at home. Sure, he was used to living all by himself, but she left such a large emptiness whenever she left. It was too quiet without her there. Michael shook it off, and began to think of his plan. He'd go in the morning to apply for a technician position at Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental. A step he'd begun to think he'd never take. But it seemed to be time to follow through... Even if he didn't feel ready for it.


	8. Not So Harmless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Chris gets attacked and sees something very disturbing about the robotic rabbit. In search of answers, he and Amy meet a very unfriendly yet very attractive stranger as well as the very grumpy owner, who seems to be harboring a very dark secret regarding their rabbit friend.

Chris kicked at the rabbit as he scrambled backwards on the floor, having been tossed out of his chair moments before as the rabbit came crawling out of the vent in the office. It reached for him and grabbed him by the ankle, yanking him closer as it opened its mouth wide. With its mouth open, Chris shuddered as he had a clear view of what was inside – what they had thought to be just a creepy endoskeleton head was now quite obviously a skull, still covered in flesh to an extent. _No wonder it always reeks!_ Chris thought, desperately trying to pull himself free of its grip. Its other hand shot towards him and grabbed him by the neck, causing him to let out a pained yelp. It was now on top of him, its weight easily keeping him down as its other hand joined the one on his neck. As it squeezed, Chris whined and coughed as he felt his windpipe get squeezed shut. He tried with all his strength to wrench the robotic rabbit's hands off of him, but it was no use. After exhausting himself, being unable to breathe, his vision quickly began to dim. His face felt hot and his head felt foggy, his eyes stuck focusing on the burning gaze of the rabbit as death seemed inevitable. He was so close to falling unconscious when the back door to the building swung open, making the rabbit retreat from him. He gasped desperately for air as he laid rather pathetically on the floor. The rabbit slank back into the vent before it could be seen, leaving Chris alone in the office to be found by whoever had come in.

 

“Chris!” A high, familiar voice cried. It was Amy. She came rushing over, kneeling beside him to be sure he was alright. “Oh my god, what happened? Are you okay?!” Chris couldn't quite answer. He was still huffing and recovering from the lack of oxygen, but dark bruises began to form around his neck where the rabbit's large hands had been squeezing. Seeing Amy made his fear subside, his adrenaline rush leaving with it. He groaned and tenderly placed his hands on his neck. 

 

“I'm so happy to see you, Amy...” He said breathily. She helped him sit up, and coaxed one of his hands away from his neck so she could see. She gasped at the sight of the bruises, covering her mouth with one hand in shock. 

 

“What... Happened to you, Chris? “ She asked. He looked at her with a very tired expression, knowing that telling her might crush her poor little heart. But he had to, he wanted to make sure the same didn't happen to her whenever the rabbit decided it didn't like her any more.

 

“It's that rabbit... I think it's called 'Spring Bonnie'. I heard it mentioned in the tape last night... Anyway, I told you it was out to kill me...” He explained, still sounding rather short of breath. He was very shaky, and now very sore. His back and shoulder had been bruised from being thrown to the floor, and his hands were chafed and bloody from trying so desperately to get the rabbit to let go of him. “It got into the office last-minute... Through that vent there. I-I wasn't expecting it and it knocked me to the floor, and then... Th-The thing was so heavy and strong, I couldn't keep it away from me...” He continued, seeing Amy's expression turn from shock to worry. Her big blue eyes became a bit watery.

“I'm glad you're okay, Chris...” She said, hugging him. “I'm sorry I didn't believe you before... I got too caught up in my love of robots, I didn't want to think it could be so dangerous...” Chris returned her hug weakly.

 

“Don't sweat it. But... Amy, when it was attacking me, it opened its mouth really wide, and... I got a better view of what was underneath. It's not just a creepy endoskeleton head, it's a human head. A fleshy, gross, decaying human head. It makes sense, the tapes mentioned that the Spring Bonnie suit could be worn by a human but that it was very dangerous and could result in death. I-I think someone died in that suit and is still stuck in there.” He explained, Amy's expression once again going to shock. 

 

“We should contact the police then! Oh that's so gross... I can't believe we were about to use it as a prop...” She said. A thought flashed into her mind. _“I look like this because I got shoved into an animatronic suit”_ A voice echoed. The one from her dream, the nice one. Not remembering the rest of even that particular sentence, her mind immediately assumed that it must have been the man from her dream inside the suit. _Scott, that was his name..._ She thought. Not being a hundred percent sure of it though, she didn't bother to bring it up to Chris.

 

“No. I... I want the real answers. I wanna go talk to that jackass that let us take it from the restaurant. Can you get me his info?” Amy was shocked that Chris didn't want to go to the police first, but she nodded. 

 

“Yeah. Let me get it from Krystal.” She replied, pulling out her phone to text her sister. It took no time at all for a reply, giving them a phone number. She immediately tried to call it, but to their dismay, nobody answered.

 

“Alright, we're going to the old restaurant. I don't care if we're illegally trespassing or something, I need to get answers. And you're coming with me, because I'm not about to leave you here alone with that thing.” Chris said, the determination in his voice telling Amy there was no telling him no. She helped him stand and they walked out to her car. 

 

“I'll drive, I know the way. Plus, you... Almost died, so I don't think you're in the best shape to drive right now.” Amy said, unlocking the car. They got in and got comfy, Amy taking a short moment to turn on some music before driving out of the small parking lot reserved for employees only. 

 

 

 

It was easy to get lost on the way there, as the small restaurant sat in a small town that didn't look the type to house such a building. It took about an hour to get there, and when they parked in the parking lot of the abandoned building they noticed one other car there. This early in the morning, it could belong to anyone. With caution, Amy and Chris made their way to the back of the building, where an old metal door remained slightly ajar. They quietly entered, cringing as the door made a loud screech as it opened further. They quietly tiptoed into the building, hoping to find some kind of office that might have some information still sitting in a desk somewhere. It didn't take them too long to find it, spotting a door labeled “Manager” across the room. They both eagerly bolted towards the door but froze as the light suddenly turned on, shining light on the empty and crumbling room around them. A tall, thin man walked from the switch on the wall towards them. Chris stepped in front of Amy, suspicious of the man approaching them. He stopped a few feet away, and Chris looked him over. His face was strong-featured, the sharp cheekbones commanding the most attention. He had shimmering blue eyes that were slightly contrasted by the dark circles beneath them. His face had freckles that made him look younger despite obviously being at least in his thirties if not older, and his medium-brown hair had some loose curls visible despite being cleanly combed and styled. Overall the man was stunning to look at, which was rather distracting to Chris.

 

“What do you two think you're doing? Don't you know this is private property?” He said, his voice smooth and alluring. He spoke with a very proper English accent. Chris became flustered almost immediately, and hoped nobody noticed. 

 

“O-Our business bought the rights to everything in here, I think we have a right to be here.” Chris stated, though he didn't sound so sure of himself as he spoke. He felt so dwarfed by this tall, handsome stranger, and it was certainly throwing him off his groove. The man scowled at his excuse.

 

“Oh, you're _those people_. I hope you know how sick and disgusting your attraction is. This was a tragedy, not some urban legend to be told for fun!” He growled, his voice booming as he let his disgust show through. It made Amy flinch, but Chris got even redder in the face. “I can't believe the owner let you go through with it... I'm glad you only got your hands on a few good items and not everything you wanted. I hope your business fails.” 

 

“That's terrible! How can you say that? I've put so much work into making it look perfect, and here you are insulting everything I've worked on! What's wrong with something that happened before either of us were even born? It's totally something worth re-telling! Who are you to say we're in the wrong-” Amy attempted to defend her work, but the man quickly cut her off as she spoke.

 

“I was _there_! Try and imagine how it felt to have my best friend ripped away from me as a child. And to have to watch it keep happening over and over. Don't you dare tell me it's a story worth re-telling, it needs to be buried and forgotten!” He shouted, and Amy backed up further. She could feel herself becoming affected by all the arguing and his shouting, tears attempting to fall from her eyes. Her body was starting to shake. The stranger seemed to notice her sudden change in demeanor and paused, letting out a sigh as he made an attempt to calm himself. “Look, I... I don't think what you're doing is right. Why are you two even here? You've cleared the building already.”

 

“We came looking for answers. We did find one animatronic here, and it... Did things that made us want to know the truth. To be specific, we're going to see if we can find an address for the owner so we can go talk to him. We have a lot of questions.” Chris answered, taking a moment to flash a quick glance at Amy to see how she was doing. She looked somewhat scared, but otherwise okay. She was holding her ground.

 

“If I give it to you, will you leave immediately?” The stranger said, sounding very stern. “I came here to think, not to vent.”

 

“Yes, we'll leave immediately. But the address you give us better be the right one. How do we even know you know the real address? Who even are you?” Amy asked.

 

“My name's Mike, that's all you get. You'll just have to trust me.” He replied, standing his ground. Chris took out his phone and held it out to him.

 

“Just give us the address and we'll leave.” Chris said, hoping to at least make things a little less tense. Mike grabbed the phone and began entering the information into a notepad app. Chris shifted a bit as he waited. “Um... C-Can you include _your_ number, too?” He asked, and Mike gave him a very flat, unimpressed look. He promptly handed the phone back to him.

 

“ _No._ ” He said sharply before turning his back on them. He walked back out of the room from wherever he'd come in from, turning the light out on them on his way out. The two stood silent for a short moment, but then Chris entered the address in his phone. It was a small map, leading to a house not too far away. 

 

“Alright, well... Let's go.” He said, starting to walk back towards the exit. “I've never been rejected so harshly...” He mumbled, and Amy gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

 

“Better luck next time, buddy. Maybe go for someone less scary, though.” She said, following him closely as they left the building. The drive to the large house wasn't far, but it seemed longer than it should have been since the drive suddenly went from a packed-in urban area to rural as they reached it. There was an older truck parked in the driveway of the old home, and they hoped that meant someone was home. Neither of them knew what to expect, and were nervous about just getting out of their car. Eventually they got out and walked up to the door, ringing the rusted doorbell. After a long silence, the door opened, revealing an old man. He had a furrowed brow and tired eyes, and his round face was covered by a thick, gray beard. He seemed to still have all his hair on his head, and it was fairly neat and tidy. He wore large glasses that looked to be straight out of the early 70's, and it matched his very old and worn flannel shirt. _Flannel shirt... Why does that feel important?_ Amy thought. The two stood silent, unsure what to say or where to begin. The old man sighed.

 

“What do you want?” He said finally, his voice deep and coarse. 

 

“We... We work at the horror attraction. I uh... _We_ have a few questions we need answered, and it has to do with that animatronic we found.” Chris said, Amy much too occupied with trying to remember what flannel had to do with the situation to speak up. The man stood silent for what seemed like an eternity.

 

“You're bruised pretty badly around your neck. You had a bad run-in with it, didn't you?” He said, and Chris nodded. “So, you wanna know why it's hostile. Easy, it's broken. It no longer sees adults as something it likes.” He said flatly, but that wasn't the answer Chris wanted.

 

“No, there's something else. There's something inside the suit, we thought it was just a really weird and creepy endoskeleton head at first but... When it attacked me, it opened its mouth wide enough for me to get a good look at it, and-”

 

“Ignore it.” The old man said, cutting Chris off mid-sentence. “Just leave it be.”

 

“No! That's a person in there!” Chris said, appalled that he'd be so willing to ignore a dead body, and even more so that he already knew and didn't say a word to anyone. 

 

“No, it's not.” He said grimly. “Leave it alone.” The man was in-motion to slam the door in their faces, but Amy shot out a hand to catch the door.

 

“Wait!” She said, finally snapping out of her short-lived daze. The old man seemed a bit surprised. “Um... Y-You're Henry, right?” She asked, and he raised an eyebrow. Chris did the same, wondering what she was up to.

 

“... Yes, that _is_ my name.” He replied.

 

“This... Is going to sound really strange, but... S-Scott said he wanted me to tell you that he said 'Hello-hello'...” She said, sounding a bit crazy to Chris. Henry noticeably shifted, his eyes widening a little. 

 

“... Tell him I said I'll be glad to see him.” He said, before closing the door without another word. Chris looked at Amy with a look of bewilderment on his face. She walked back to the car with him and they both sat for a moment before she spoke.

 

“I... I had another weird dream last night. I met someone new, not the guy who has been tormenting me... And his name was Scott. I don't remember a whole lot of what he said to me, but I remember that he told me he wanted me to tell Henry that. He said I'd recognize him by the flannel he always wore...” She explained, and Chris slowly nodded. 

 

“So... Those dreams of yours are more than just weirdly vivid dreams, huh?” Chris said in reply. Seeing as Henry understood the message she delivered to him from a man she'd met in her dreams, it was beginning to look like Amy was displaying some sort of strange psychic ability. Or perhaps she was just in too deep. “What do we do about the dead body? Do we... Call the police? I mean, he _knew_ about it. What if this guy is some deep, dark company secret that's been kept all these years and he doesn't want it getting out?” Amy shrugged, unsure of how to answer.

 

“I don't know... Maybe we _should_ just keep it a secret... It sounds like he had a very good reason to, from the way he talked about it.” She said, but then she shook her head. “What am I saying? This person deserves to be identified and buried properly! This is someone's loved one, someone they might hope is still alive and out there somewhere. They don't have any sort of closure, and if we keep it quiet, we're keeping that away from them. But... Oh, I don't know, Chris, I'm so conflicted...” She whined. He laughed a bit.

 

“Yeah, I can tell. Well, let's go back and I'll sleep on it... Don't go in there alone, okay?” He said, but Amy sighed and shook her head slowly.

 

“Krystal and Andy are busy, I don't have anyone... I'll be fine, it likes me.” Chris let out a strained sigh, accepting that she wouldn't stop her work for any reason. She'd worked too hard to quit now. 

 

“Okay... But only for one more day. Got that?” He said, hoping to compromise. She hesitantly nodded.

 

“One more day. Yeah... That's all the time I need. I think I need a break from that place anyway... I just don't wanna stop until I'm done, you know?” 

 

“Yeah. I understand... I'm just worried about you, that's all. I don't want this to happen to you. Keep your phone on you at all times, okay?” Amy smiled and nodded as she started the car.

 

“Okay. I'll call you if I need anything.”


	9. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Amy may not have gotten answers from Henry, but Chris manages to get some out of their angry friend from before. These answers were not ones Chris wanted to hear, but the painful truth comes to light in more ways than one.

Amy felt nervous, inching her way into the building slowly and looking around for the robotic rabbit. There was no sight of it, so she let out a long sigh and stepped all the way in, until the door stopped sooner than she'd expected with a muffled clunk. Startled, she let go of it and jumped back, and out from behind the door peeked the rabbit.

 

“Did you have to scare me like that? I didn't see you!” She said, sounding as if she was scolding the thing. She closed the door and attempted to calm her nerves, but she was uneasy... The fact that she was practically face-to-face with a dead body made her more than uneasy, so her heightened anxiety stuck around. Though uneasy, something about the rabbit made her a little more comforted. “I never would've guessed... Behind that cute smile of yours is a dead person. I hope they don't take you away... Or permanently take you apart. We can't just leave them in there though. I wonder... who they were.” She said. The rabbit tilted its head in response, as if it understood her words but didn't know the answer she wanted to hear. “If only you could speak.” She added. The rabbit began to wander down the hall, which seemed odd to Amy. Usually it stuck to her like glue, so she followed.

 

The rabbit wandered into the game room, and over to one of the walls. With a slow motion, the rabbit pointed to a drawing of a yellow rabbit with a yellow bear. Amy raised her eyebrows, and smiled big. “You really can understand me, can't you? Yeah, you're the yellow rabbit. Spring-Bonnie.” She said excitedly. The rabbit looked at her for a moment before pointing to another picture. This one was of a child who was crying. Its ears drooped, as if expressing sadness. “Do you know why the kid's crying? Is that something you remember?” She asked, and it looked at her again. It couldn't speak, nor could it express emotions through its face, so all it did was stare. Its arm lowered and its focus seemed to remain on her, as usual. “Alright... I'm going to finish this room tonight, okay? If you see any more of these drawings that you remember, tell me.” She said, picking up a box and setting it on one of the arcade machines.

 

Amy was finding it difficult to ignore the fact that there was a dead body within close proximity to her. As she worked, she found herself glancing back at the rabbit every few minutes thinking about it. It would simply look at her and tilt its head every time she looked back at it. It seemed to be so... innocent. As if it didn't even know that something was terribly wrong. It made her feel a bit sad, knowing they'd have to take it apart to get to the body. She hoped they'd be able to put it back together so it could stay at the horror attraction... It was their main attraction, they'd hate to lose it. Besides, Amy has gotten more than a little attached to it. She couldn't keep her mind off it, but something finally did distract her...

 

She had hung up a picture of a strange looking puppet, and it sparked a memory in her mind. The eyeless man from her dream, the shy one. Scott. _“If you need a guide, ask the puppet.”_ What did he mean by that? This puppet was something she'd never heard about or even seen until recently. As she focused on it, the room seemed to dim around her until there was nothing but black surrounding her. She turned around and looked around, but saw nothing. That is, until a mask emerged from the dark, its silhouette only visible by the white markings on its body. “The puppet...” Amy whispered. “Scott told me about you. Who are you?” She asked, but the puppet did not answer. Images began to appear around Amy, mostly in the form of children's drawings. Gift boxes, confetti, the puppet, but then... A crying child. Several crying children, surrounded by characters. There was one character for every crying child, including the puppet. There were 6 in total, 5 grouped together, one standing above them with the puppet. Amy didn't know what to make of it.

 

“So... You're... protecting these children?” She asked, and the images changed once more. A puppet and a yellow rabbit. But the rabbit had purple eyes this time, unlike any of the drawings she had seen of it before. A red “x” was then painted over it. “I don't understand... What did it do? It's a nice rabbit.” She said, but the puppet seemed to flinch at her words. The images faded to black before the words 'Don't Stay, He is here' appeared on the floor in red beneath her feet. She stepped back, feeling the wall behind her. As her anxiety began to rise, the darkness faded to the game room, a distant beeping blaring from the main security office. She rushed to the office, restarting the ventilation system in the building. She hadn't even noticed it had gotten hard to breathe... The whole experience had completely distracted her.

 

_'Don't stay, He is here'_

 

Who was “he”? Was it... The man from her dreams? The one who seemed so cruel? Perhaps there was a lot of pieces that she needed to put together, she'd have to write it all out after work...

 

Amy turned to walk out the door, startled once more by the rabbit's appearance behind her. It followed her like a lost puppy, as always. With a sigh, she smiled. “Stop scaring me, you're supposed to do that to strangers, not me.” She said, giggling a bit.

 

 

 

 

Chris ended up heading back to the old restaurant, curious as to what he'd find there. He wasn't satisfied with the lack of answers they had gotten from the owner, so he figured he'd do a little more snooping around. When he got back to it, the other car was still there, letting him know their angry friend from before was still there. A bit red-faced, he got out of his car and walked in, glancing around as he walked further into the building. Light only came in from the cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the room in an eerily peaceful manner. He stood in the middle, closed his eyes and listened, hearing very quiet footsteps approach from behind.

 

“You're too curious for your own good, kid.” It was that familiar, deep, smooth voice from the rather aggressive man they had met before. Chris turned around and looked at him, once again looking him over briefly. Tall, mysterious and handsome was a short definition of what had gone through Chris' mind.

 

“I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-five. You know what all this is about, don't you? The convoluted answers, the dead body we found, these creepy animatronics. Why did we find a body?” Chris asked, no longer hiding anything from this 'Mike' guy. He didn't get those answers from Henry, so hopefully Mr. Tall and Handsome had the answers he wanted.

 

“I'm not exactly shocked, those animatronics were hiding _something._ There were accidents, there were disappearances. But you're getting in too deep, you don't want to be caught up in any of this restaurant's drama. Once you're in, you can't get away from it. Ever.” He said, stepping closer to Chris slowly. “You really should stay out of it.” Chris didn't step back, he stood his ground even as Mike got close. “It's for your own good, you don't want any part of this. You and your friend from earlier, especially... Keep yourselves safe.”

 

“I will worry about that when I have answers, 'Mike'. Are you going to give me some? Or are you going to dodge them all and tell me to mind my own business? I just want to know why this is so dangerous.” Chris said sternly, holding firm to his desire to know the answers.

 

“Fine I'll give you answers. Someone murdered five children during the franchise's run. One child died of a severe head injury before this place was known as Freddy's. Some security guards went missing on the job, most likely because they were either murdered or killed by these haunted machines. How's that for answers? You don't want to be part of this cycle. This place ruined my life, I don't want it to do the same to you.”

 

“How did it ruin your life?” Chris asked, sounding a bit shocked after all that. It certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

 

“This place... My family was part of this place. My father was one of two owners. You've met one now, right? Henry? I'm very close to him because our families were close. But... His life's work was ruined. His own child was one of the children who went missing here. But that also ruined my childhood, having my best friend taken from me. I was afraid for a long time. And then I lost my sister to one of these machines, but at a different location... It's a never-ending curse that someone started, and it's gotten out of control. The last thing I want to happen is for someone innocent to end up trapped in it like me.” Mike explained. Chris enjoyed this more calm, sincere demeanor over his previous anger, the sound of his calm tone of voice making him much more relaxed than he probably should be.

 

“I see... I'm sorry to hear that. But what could happen to us? After all this time, whoever was killing people is probably long gone. What more could happen?” Chris inquired; Figuring if he could come up with some sort of answer, he would tell Amy to leave and talk with Andy about ending this attraction's run for their own safety. But the answer had to at least be as convincing as Chris hoped it would be after learning of all this death. He'd thought it only a story before, and knowing it was all true and much more, he wasn't sure he really wanted to be involved any more.

 

“That thing you brought into your attraction is a dangerous machine. I'm sure it's got something evil in it... Something that could kill. I don't want you or your friend to get hurt, and it could happen with any animatronic brought in. Half of them have something inside that drives them for revenge, the rest are merely malfunctioning. Is that enough to make you believe me?” He said, keeping that same calm tone. He knew Chris was beginning to understand the depth of the situation.

 

“Oh...” Chris replied, shuffling his feet a bit. “Amy's there alone with it right now... She always is, and it never hurts her. It... really likes her. But it tried to kill me. These bruises on my neck are from that thing trying to end my life. I didn't understand before, but now I do... I'm going to have to convince Andy to stop the project. It's too dangerous.”

 

“Good. And once this is all over, don't ever look back. Keep yourself away from the subject, don't discuss it, just forget it ever happened.” Mike said, finally pulling his hands from his coat pockets. He extended a hand to Chris, who hesitantly shook it. “My name is Michael, by the way... Michael Afton. I'm sorry for being so rude before, this whole thing is a touchy subject for me...”

 

“Oh, uh... I'm Christopher. But you can call me Chris, everyone does... Uh, don't worry about earlier, I get it. I see now why you think it's so terrible... Really we shouldn't be spending all this money on a horror attraction when these murders were never even solved. It's... Disrespectful, in a way.” Chris said, going a bit red in the face.

 

“If you need help packing up, I'll offer. I work night shifts, but don't hesitate to call me.” Mike pulled out his phone, and Chris hurriedly pulled out his own and opened a new contact. They exchanged numbers, Chris thanking himself for coming back here. Internally, Chris had his head in the clouds, drifting happily with the knowledge that he now had the number of the prettiest man he'd ever seen. His face was red and his look was dazed, but Mike had a feeling he knew why. “Hey... Text me if you need to talk. I've got to go, it's really long past my bedtime and I need plenty of sleep. I'm a technician, it's hard work... I need that full day of sleep to really function and do my job.”

“Y-Yeah, I'll talk to you later.” Chris replied, still stuck in his daze. Michael smiled and gave him a quick wave before leaving, having left Chris in a dazed state of euphoria.

 

 

Amy had spent the entire day finishing up her project. The place looked perfect, every last detail exactly how she had wanted it since the day she saw the building. She made sure to go over everything, using her little mental checklist to be sure everything was as it should be before she declared it finished and showed it off to her sister and Andy. All the pictures were hung in just the right place, the paper stars strung along the ceiling were perfect in their position, each arcade machine flickered in an eerie sense that gave the place just the right feel. Lights flickered inside old props, vents looked old and rusted, and the floors were dirty. It all looked perfect for a horror attraction, matching their incredibly creepy animatronic. It may not have been creepy to Amy, but to everyone else, it was a shocking sight.

 

“Finally... I'm all finished. As soon as we figure out what to do about the dead body, this place is going to be the best horror attraction that ever graced this theme park. What do you think, bunny?” She said, turning to the rabbit that so loyally stayed at her side. It raised its ears slightly, then tilted its head. “Do you like it?” The rabbit, unable to speak, nodded its head once in reply. Amy smiled, but sighed quietly. “I wish you could speak...” She mumbled, turning her back to it as she looked over her work once more. She went to adjust a picture, but froze as a deep, gravelly voice spoke from behind her.

 

“As you wish, my dear.”

 

Amy whirled around to see where the voice came from, her eyes fixing on the rabbit. That voice was all too familiar... And she was terrified. The rabbit's eyes flickered and for a moment, it shook its head and backed up, placing its large paws on its head. The lights in its eyes dimmed, and it seemed to completely shut off, standing perfectly still without any sort of mechanical whirring emanating from it. Amy furrowed her brow and stepped closer. “B-Bunny...? Are you... Are you okay?” She asked, but her answer was not at all what she'd expected. The rabbit's eyes flickered on again and it lunged forward, grabbing her by her neck with its thick paws. She screamed, her windpipe strained but not held closed, as the rabbit shoved her against the wall and held her up above the floor.

 

“I've wanted to do this since the day I laid eyes on you... This machine made it difficult to control. It looked at you like a lost puppy and always shoved me away, but no more. You're _mine_ now.” Her beloved rabbit had become the man she'd been so frightened of in her dreams... It clicked in her head who the dead body was inside the rabbit, and hope drained from her. He squeezed at her throat and she kicked at it, losing her ability to breathe completely. As she felt weak and light-headed, it dropped her to the floor where she collapsed. She had no energy to stand, to run away, to do anything but lie there and gasp for air. As soon as she sat up, she heard her attacker grab hold of a pipe on the wall and tear it free. She turned to look, and watched as a large paw swung a pipe straight at her.


	10. A Hard Day's Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike finds his new job strangely draining, and he's almost sure it has to do with whatever the hell made so much noise in that vent.

The blaring of Mike's alarm came much too early for his liking. With a low groan, he sat up slowly and grabbed his phone, shutting it off. He was more than tempted to go back to sleep, but he knew he had to go to work. It wasn't negotiable, he couldn't call in on his first night. Even if he wasn't at all ready to go in. With a yawn, he looked at his notifications sleepily and noticed one was from Chris. A text, written shyly, had been received only an hour earlier.

 

[Chris]: Hey, it's Chris. Um... I'm sorry for being so spacey earlier... so uh... Would you like to get breakfast with me sometime? I guess it would be dinner for me, but... You know... Uh sorry to ask so out of the blue.

 

[Chris]: You don't have to say yes, I'll understand if you don't want to

 

“You're too young for me, Chris...” Mike mumbled to himself, smiling at the messages. He got the hint earlier that Chris seemed to have a thing for him, and this definitely solidified that knowledge. But Mike hadn't dated in quite a while, and Chris seemed much too young for him. A man who is nearly fifty might not be the best match for someone half his age. Though, a young cutie was tempting.

 

Mike finally convinced himself to get out of bed, feeling his back pop and crack as he did so. He popped his shoulders and stretched for a moment before heading down the stairs of his lonely home to the kitchen. He never really bothered to eat breakfast, but he did love to have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. He wouldn't be able to go through his day without it. He filled his coffee maker, turned it on and listened patiently as the water boiled and began to drip into the pot below. He nearly fell asleep as he waited for it to fill up enough for a couple cups of coffee, dozing off where he stood for seconds at a time. Finally, the loud beep sounded from the coffee machine and he poured himself a cup. Two packets of sugar, one packet of powdered creamer; He made his coffee the same every day. He didn't bother to eat breakfast, he simply sat on the sofa in front of his old TV and zoned out as he drank his coffee. The sun was setting outside, making the room turn a nostalgic golden shade.

 

It reminded him of his childhood, when he spent many nights like this one curled up under a blanket with his father, watching a movie. He remembered how he'd hide his face under the blanket during the scary parts, and could distinctly recall his father's words every time it happened.

 

“ _You're not too scared are you? You always tell me you liked the scary parts.”_

 

Michael sighed. He had many conflicting feelings about that man. He'd raised him well and took good care of him, but at the same time... Mike knew he did some terrible, horrific things. He loved his father for the father he was, but definitely not as a person.

 

His phone went off once more with the annoyingly loud alarm, telling him it was time he got ready for work. With another tired groan, he peeled himself off of the sofa and set his empty mug on the coffee table before going upstairs. He had a uniform to wear for this job, a light blue shirt with jeans and a hat, with a matching darker blue coat. He undressed and donned the work attire, then headed to the bathroom to check if his hair wasn't too badly a mess. It stuck up and had thick curls, so it was a difficult entity to manage, but somehow after a bit of poking at it he got it to look decent. Satisfied with his hair, he walked downstairs and out the front door, grabbing his keys in a passing motion as he went out. He locked the door and headed to his old, rather beat-up car, and hesitantly got in. He thought for a moment, then got back out and locked the car, and started walking. Why waste gas on such a short distance, when it was only a ten minute walk?

 

Walking up to the building gave Mike a deep sense of dread. He'd tried so hard to put this job out of his mind for as long as possible, but he couldn't avoid it any more. The doors were unlocked and squeaked as they opened, and he was greeted by a familiar face. “Mike! Hey, it's your first day!” Julia said in a chipper tone, standing up from her office chair to greet him. She worked as the receptionist for much too long, but was fantastic at her job. The current owner of the business adored her for her personality, as well as her ability to keep things organized and timely. “You look kinda nervous...” She added.

 

“Yeah, I am. I avoided this for so long... I don't know if I'm ready to uh... See _her_ again...” He admitted, scratching his head. He realized he'd forgotten to put on his hat after spending all that time on his hair, and frowned for a moment. “Anyway, uh... Where do I go?” He asked, and Julia was quick to lead him to the elevator.

 

“This thing is kind of a scary elevator, but it's up to code. It'll go to the basement level where they're all kept, and you'll have to crawl through maintenance vents. This will help guide you through it.” She said, handing him a handheld device with friendly eyes on it. “Turn it on when the elevator starts moving, it'll go through its automatic greeting and everything. I've gotta close up now, so good luck! Oh, and take these.” She said, handing him a small key ring with two keys. “They're the same key... Just don't lose them. Lock the building when you're done.” He nodded, and she went back to her desk to finish her closing duties so she could go home. He stepped into the elevator, feeling that sense of dread rise even more, and nearly jumped when the doors locked closed behind him. He switched on the handheld device, and it greeted him in a cheerful voice.

 

“ _Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career! Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in Screws, bolts, and hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit Repair System. But, you can call me "Hand-Unit". Your new career promises challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities. Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later, so, please be careful.”_ Mike sighed, the keypad appearing very jumbled on the screen. He did his best to type his name, but it seemed like he wasn't quite able to get it...

 

“ _It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. One moment. Welcome Eggs Benedict!”_

 

“I... Okay. I guess that's just me now.” He said, realizing that an attempt to protest a machine that couldn't even hear him was a futile response. He'd have to live with the name until he was done here. He followed is instructions as the elevator reached the bottom, crawling into the strangely eerie vent that seemed almost too long. Finally, he reached a dimly lit room, full of very glitchy, uncanny and rather frightening animatronic faces. There was an intimidating clown mask hanging above the vent in front of him, which he frowned at as he stood up. Listening as HandUnit explained to use the lights on either side to view the animatronics. He remembered both mentioned, Ballora and Funtime Foxy, both being designed by his father. All the animatronics here were designed by his father, which made him dread working on them even more. Not only were they not friendly looking, but they seemed to act a little... off. And he certainly didn't like the controlled shock feature.

 

As he'd dreaded so intensely, it directed him into the vent in front of him and into the circus gallery. He didn't want to see that _thing_ that resided in the room. But to his shock, the light did not work... and then it asked him to shock it. Oh, did he not want to... Mike clenched his teeth as he nervously hit the button, hearing the shock but nothing else. And it directed him to do it _again_. Once again, he hesitantly hit the button and flinched at the sound of the electricity jolting the machine within the room. But it seemed to have worked, though he couldn't see the results.

 

Crawling back to the control module he'd been in previously, he heard bangs on the vent and could feel the vibrations under him. He flinched at every bang, crawling faster as if something chased after him. By the time he was out the other side, he was panting and huffing as he laid flat on the floor to catch his breath. He didn't quite know why he felt so terrified... but now that it was over, he felt exhausted. He didn't even do much... Yet the whole experience had taken a lot out of him. He wondered if it was just something to do with his anxieties about these animatronics... Perhaps that was all it was. He hoped, otherwise he might be seriously out of shape and needed to get himself a gym membership.

 

Mike hadn't even realized how much time had gone by when he got back up to the surface level. It was pitch black outside, and the clock on the wall read 3 A.M. He'd gotten there at 9 P.M. He sighed, walked his way home sorely and didn't look back... He dreaded his next shift just as badly as he dreaded the last one. The moment he got home, he made a bowl of popcorn and collapsed on the couch, and spent the rest of the morning watching soap operas until he fell asleep where he sat.


	11. Burn It To The Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story comes to a close for the Fazbear's Fright crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for yet another short chapter. Things will pick up again, I promise. I have a plan!

The pipe pierced her chest like a makeshift sword. Shock hit before the pain ever had a chance, and she felt her body go cold. She drifted backwards and the rabbit caught her in its paws before she could hit the floor, holding her tenderly as if it hadn't just stabbed her right through.

 

Amy wanted to ask why. She wanted to beg for her life, but she knew it was already too late. She let herself relax into the arms of her killer, the room getting darker and darker around her. She tried to speak, but the rabbit spoke before she could make more than a strained sound.

 

“Hush now, my dear. It will be over soon... And you'll be safe and sound.” He said, his voice sounding oddly comforting. It was less rigid, much less growl-esque... As if talking to a frightened child. Amy couldn't breathe well enough to keep herself conscious. Her life was over and she knew it, and she didn't bother to struggle. She let herself slip into unconsciousness, and died in the rabbit's arms.

 

 

 

 

Chris wasn't excited to come into work. He'd felt worried all day and figured it was because Amy had been here all alone with a killer rabbit, but still couldn't shake the overload of anxiety he felt. The moment he walked through the door, something felt _wrong._ Horribly wrong. The rabbit was nowhere to be seen, so he hurried into the office and turned on the cameras to see where it was. It always expected him, so he knew it would be on the move as soon as he arrived. Scrolling through the cameras, he finally finds it at the other end of the building on camera 10, and something seemed different... He couldn't tell what, but something in the back of his mind knew something was wrong.

 

The rabbit stayed put oddly enough, for quite a long time, too. But as the clock struck 3, it moved. Chris momentarily lost track of the thing before finding again, but then his camera system went out. He played a sound in the room just beyond it, then quickly rebooted his camera system. He looked up from his monitor, relieved that the rabbit hadn't shown up. The moment his camera system was back up, he went to look at another camera but felt his blood run cold as he saw a puppet in the camera. And then there was a horrible, brain-scrambling electronic screeching, so loud he had to cover his ears. He looked away from the camera and saw the puppet hovering above him in the office. Chris panicked and closed his eyes, terrified of what might happen, but after he did, the sound stopped... And was replaced by the approaching sound of metallic footsteps.

 

Chris focused back on the rabbit, breathing heavily from that last terrifying experience as he scrolled through cameras. It had moved closer and was now crawling into a vent, which he promptly closed. He didn't know how to even comprehend what had just happened... But it had passed, so he decided he'd think about it later, after his shift was over. The rabbit moved once more, but as he looked at the cameras again to find it, he noticed something off in one of the arcade room cameras... It looked like there was something black on the floor, and... A hand? Chris felt a wave of fear hit him, and he forced himself to do something he'd hoped he never had to do. He grabbed a crowbar from under the desk and left the office, ready to smack the rabbit if it dared come near him. He rushed to the arcade room where he found a horrific scene, one that made his whole body feel numb. Amy laid dead and bloody on the floor, just outside the camera's range. Chris whimpered, then cried out her name, rushing over to her. “Amy, no.. Please don't do this to me I can't handle losing someone like this...” He whimpered, tears starting to roll down his now flustered face. He sobbed and took hold of her hand, holding it tight with both of his. Chris wished so much that he'd kept her away from this place, that he'd demanded she stay away unless she was with someone. But he had allowed her to come back, alone, with that monster lurking in here. His sadness and grief began to turn into intense anger, and after spending a good ten minutes crying, he stood up and grabbed the crowbar tightly. He wasn't going to let that thing hurt anyone else... That place needed to burn.

 

Chris was no longer afraid of that rabbit. He wanted revenge, and he'd be damned if he didn't get it. He took the crowbar and smashed one of the natural gas lines that sat open against the walls, letting the gas start to fill the largest room in the building. He could feel himself have a hard time breathing, but he was determined. He found the rabbit in the next room over, ran past it, and then back at it. He shoved the heavy machine into the room with the broken pipe and grabbed a box of matches from his coat pocket, lighting one and throwing it into the room. It erupted in flames, soon spreading to the rest of the building. Chris stood and watched the rabbit attempt to escape the flames, but lost sight of it in the smoke. Coughing, he rushed to get out, but as he approached his exit the ceiling began to fail, sending beams hurling down at the floor. One hit his back and knocked him to the floor, pinning him under much more weight than he could move. He coughed and gasped for air, reached towards the door as if to try and grab it... But he soon realized he couldn't move, and he closed his eyes. He dropped his hand, but felt it quickly get grabbed. His eyes jolted open, seeing Michael with his shirt over his face grabbing onto him. “Hold on.” He said, pulling almost hard enough to dislocate Chris's arm, but just enough to get him free. Chris attempted to stand but his legs wouldn't hold his weight, so Michael swiftly lifted him up in his arms and ran out the exit with him, setting him down outside, away from the burning building. Both of them huffed and coughed from the smoke, but they were safe now...

 

It took little time for fire trucks to arrive on scene, the crews quickly getting to work on putting out the fire while paramedics attended to both Chris and Mike. Mike was fine as far as he was concerned, but Chris seemed in much worse shape. He'd definitely broken something, they were almost sure it was a rib or two along with his leg. Mike felt rather terrible that he couldn't have rescued Chris any sooner, but he couldn't help that fact. He'd gone to make sure things were okay, only to watch the building erupt in flames. It wasn't at all what he'd expected for tonight. The paramedics came to the agreement that they needed to haul off Chris to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, and they swiftly took him away. Mike wished he could have at least talked to Chris, asked how it happened, something more than the nothingness that was left.

 

The police arrived not long after and he was their first priority. They questioned him about the situation, why it happened and how he seemed to arrive just in time. But he was very honest with them about how he knew very little, only that the building was most likely a fire hazard itself. By the end of it all Mike felt drained yet still concerned about Chris. Seeing as he wasn't being arrested for arson, he figured it would be best to visit him in the hospital in the morning.

 

 

 

The next day's news was all about the incident. 'Local horror attraction burns to the ground days before its debut' was the gist of the headlines. What worried Mike the most was the fact that they had indeed found a body on-sight, burned beyond recognition. They kept saying arson wasn't out of the question, but it was also likely due to faulty wiring.

 

Mike made his way to the hospital, checked in at the desk and went to find the room Chris was in. He knocked lightly, and was told to come in by a female voice, to his surprise. Slowly, he opened the door and stepped in, surprised to see a small group of people in the room. There was a middle-aged woman with gray hair and round glasses beside the bed, dressed in clothes reminiscent of a holistic woman, her long hair decorated with beads here and there. There was a tall and chubby man that looked around Chris's age in one of the chairs in the room, who had dark brown hair and eyes that matched. He wore a hoodie and jeans, very average clothes. The woman looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Are you one of my son's friends?” She asked. The man shook his head.

 

“No way, I've never seen Chris hang out with this dude.” He said, sounding as if he was suspicious of Mike. Mike frowned, but didn't make a big deal of it.

 

“Actually, I'm the one who pulled him free of the fire. I wanted to make sure he was alright.” Mike said, looking over at Chris. He was asleep, looking very beat up and ragged after one night of hell. His hair was somewhat burnt at the tips, his face was bruised and still had smears of ash here and there. He looked to be in bad shape, but at least he seemed stable.

 

“So you're my son's hero? He told me about you last night... When I heard of his condition I rushed here, and he told me about the whole ordeal... Some of it sounded very... hard to believe... But he's in no condition to make a coherent statement. He's been sound asleep since they let him rest.” The woman said, looking down at her son. “My name is Mary. I'm so thankful for what you did.” She added. Mike scratched his head, unsure of what to say. He was a bit red in his cheeks.

 

“Well, he and I had run into each other earlier yesterday... In fact I kinda yelled at him and his friend, but then when he came back we had a good talk... I'd gone to check up on him and found the building ablaze, so I did what I could to help. It uh... sounds like there was more than one person in that fire, though...” He said, saying the last part rather quietly. Mary sighed, nodding slowly.

 

“They think it's his friend, Amy. She's been missing since yesterday, nobody has heard a thing from her. It's very unlike her to be so quiet, even more so to not come home at night. It's... very sad, really.” Mary said, keeping a soft tone as she spoke. “Andy here has been worried sick. Amy is his girlfriend's sister, they're all close. Krystal is completely out of sorts, so she isn't here right now... But she'd be thanking you as well.”

 

“That's not entirely true. She'd probably be begging to know why, if there were two people in that building, that her sister got left behind. We're both happy Chris got out okay, but Amy deserved to be saved too. What's your deal?” Andy said, sounding very snappy as he spoke. Mike wasn't entirely sure how to answer.

 

“W-Well... if I'm being honest, I didn't know there was someone else in the building... Chris didn't mention it, though he didn't really talk much... I don't blame him, he must have been in a lot of pain. What all have the doctors said?” Michael asked, hoping to change from a difficult subject.

 

“He has two broken ribs and a fractured femur. He has bad bruising on his back and chest, as well as the leg that got broken. But other than that, a few cuts and scrapes... But he's alive, and that's what matters to me.” Mary said, though Andy scoffed at the change in subject.

 

“I wonder who set the building on fire.” He huffed, which earned him a stern look from Mary.

 

“Enough, Andy. I'm not your mother, but I advise you to cool your head and maybe go comfort your girlfriend instead of moping in here.” She said, sounding pretty harsh. Andy stood up and huffed, then walked out the door, nearly slamming it shut. It jolted Chris awake, who opened his eyes slowly and let his eyes focus before he spoke. “Aw, my little Chrissy, I'm sorry Andy woke you. Are you feeling alright?” Mary asked, her tone now sweet and caring. Chris nodded slowly.

 

“Yeah... I'm okay. I'm a little sore but it's not excruciating.” He replied tiredly. His eyes drifted to Mike, who he was very surprised to see. “Mike... You came to see me?” He asked.

“Of course... But I uh... I need to speak with you privately, if that's alright with you, Ms. Mary.” Mike said, looking to Mary for her reply. She nodded and stood up, and quietly left the room. Michael went to one of the chairs and pulled it near the bed, and sat down comfortably with his hands folded on his lap. “I'm sorry I didn't get there earlier... I tried to warn you not to continue, but I suppose I wasn't clear enough that you shouldn't have gone back.” He said. “Who else was in there with you?”

 

“Amy... But she was already dead... I found her with a pipe through her chest... It was that damn rabbit.” Chris said, his voice wavering slightly. “Did... Did they find it? Did it burn?”

 

“Not to my knowledge. It sounds like either it did, or... It got out. Which is what I'm really worried about.”

 

“Why were you even there last night...?” Chris asked.

 

“I... I was nervous. Worried, even. I wanted to be sure you were okay... You're an innocent guy, I didn't want anything to happen. But I guess death follows all relics from Freddy's... Me included.” Michael said, his tone darkening a bit.

 

“But you're not a relic...” Chris protested. “Besides, you're more than that. You seem to reduce yourself to nothing but a victim of whatever curse you talked about before... Is that all you think about?”

 

“It's hard not to. But no, it's... not all that I think about. It's not something I can explain to you, or to anyone, for that matter. A family secret that haunts me to this day. I have a feeling Henry let you take that old rabbit out of there for a reason, though...”

 

“What reason would that be? He must've known it was dangerous.”

 

“Exactly... I think he's planning something. I don't know what it is yet, but I have a feeling he's going to be ending this whole ordeal very soon. And I'm ready for it... It's gone on for far too long. But I do worry that perhaps he let out something monstrous...” Mike sighed, shaking his head. “Anyway... I think I'll take you up on that offer. When you're set to get out of here, I'll gladly go to breakfast with you.” Chris smiled, then laughed a bit, only to start into a coughing fit. By the end of it, he was wheezing, which made Mike feel more than guilty. Seeing the worried expression on his face, though out of breath, Chris smiled at him and spoke in a cheerful tone.

 

“Sure... I'd love that.”


	12. Bears, Ballerinas, and Bad Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael continues to fret his work, but this time he's reminded of more horrible memories he repressed for far too long. Things he never wanted to remember, ever again.

“ _Captain, we have a fleet approaching from the rear!”_

 

“ _Mar, get on the left turret! Kreeta, on the right!”_

 

“ _Captain Tyrus, we must flee this fight, we don't have the fire power!”_

 

“ _Not now, Ignus! We can win this!”_

 

Mike woke slowly from a half-slumber as his TV ran a rather cheesy sci-fi movie, his eyes slow to focus on the screen. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa, and thankfully, didn't accidentally dump his bucket of popcorn all over the place like he had the last time he'd done this. His body felt stiff as he sat up and turned the TV off with the small remote, and he set aside his popcorn as he stood up and stretched. Looking at the clock, he realized it was mid-day and he still had plenty of time to sleep... But he felt anxious. Like something was in the room with him...

 

Something shuffled along the floor, making Mike whirl around to see what it was. Where the TV remote had been set on the table was now an empty space... And some popcorn had been scattered onto the table. There was a high-pitched giggle from within the bucket of popcorn, and Michael hesitantly tapped its side. Out popped one of the tiny ballerinas that accompanied Ballora, one of his father's rather unsettling creations. It giggled again, but Michael was more terrified of how it followed him home. He hurled the popcorn bowl at the wall with a yelp, then stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor. In a bit of a daze, he stared up at the ceiling, wishing he wasn't such a clumsy person. He heard the giggling again, then felt something grab his leg. He panicked and let out another frightened yelp before grabbing the tiny ballerina and throwing it again, this time hard enough that its head popped off and rolled on the floor. It seemed to be broken now, and as he came out of his startled state, he began to feel guilty. It hadn't done anything _wrong_ , it really didn't deserve to be thrown at the wall twice. He sighed and got up off the floor, then walked to the small broken machine and picked it up off the floor. “I'm sorry...” He said quietly. He figured perhaps he'd fix it eventually... But he was too tired to do so at that moment. He set it down on a small chair in the corner, one that held a stuffed rabbit. “Springy will keep you company until I fix you.”

 

Mike hobbled his way upstairs, now sore from falling and from being so tense through the whole ordeal. He flopped tiredly onto his bed and nearly immediately fell back asleep, despite being face-down and on top of the covers.

 

 

 

The alarm always came too early. Mike once again rolled himself out of bed, proceeded with his usual routine, and sat in silence this time on the sofa with his coffee. He seemed dazed, lost in thought. Would he have to face it today? Perhaps it was something else. He hoped it was something else. His eyes drifted to the small, broken ballerina on the chair with the much larger stuffed yellow rabbit, whose fur had faded to green over the years. He thought about Ballora... How she was modeled after his mother, her voice matching that. He didn't know how he'd handle hearing that voice again... His mother had passed when he was young, shortly after _she_ was born. It had torn his life to pieces for the first time, with a father now alone with two children while being emotionally ruined by the loss of his beloved wife. Sure, he had done his best for his children, but... Mike could see the difference. Mike, unseen by his father, would watch him cry at his workbench in the workshop, late at night after his children had been put to bed. For the first time, Michael had seen his strong father in a vulnerable, unstable state, and it hit him hard. The years that followed were good, but the second tragedy of his life tore things apart again. This time, however, it left a deep emotional wound within Mike, and haunted his dreams until that very day. Mike felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, and swiftly wiped them away with his sleeve. His life had been torn to shreds a total of four times, it was a wonder he managed to survive it all.

 

His walk to work was the same as before. Filled with anxiety and fear of what the night would bring. To his dismay, he was late and his dear friend Julia had already gone home. That small bit of comfort he was hoping to find wasn't there, and he found it difficult just to unlock the front door. Stepping into the elevator in dead silence, he switched on his small handheld friend as the descent began.

 

“ _Welcome back to another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes. We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring that you don't get tired of the voice that you're hearing right now. Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text only, press 3. For other options, press 4.”_

 

Mike frowned, realizing the keypad had no numbers. He tapped at random, hoping something desirable would come of it, but he found disappointment like the day before. This machine was a bit more than broken.

 

“ _It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. Thank you for choosing Angsty Teen.”_

 

He let out a dissatisfied groan, shaking his head as he awaited this angsty teen's debut. The last thing he needed was a bratty kid walking him through is night. _“The elevator's stopped. You know the routine. Get out now, or whatever. Stay here if you want.”_ Mike paused, considering its answer. He could indeed just stay put, but he had work to do. He crawled into the first vent, expecting that to be it from the annoying device. To Mike's dismay, it was not the end of it. “ _So, funny story, a dead body was found in this vent once. M'kay, so, not that funny, but, it's a story.”_ Once again, Mike let out an unhappy whine as he tried not to think about what he'd just been told. He would much rather not know about that sort of information, but it didn't exactly shock him. He knew this job was dangerous, knew people had to have lost their lives working this very job he worked now. He crawled out into the control module and awaited his instructions.

 

“ _Alright, so, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on Ballora, and make sure she's on her stage, but, whatever.”_

 

Mike obeyed, checking the light. He was a bit startled to see only her shadow, and dreaded the next instruction.

 

“ _I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap her! That should be fun.”_

 

“ _Don't_ word it like that, for god's sake.” Mike whined, hitting the button for the controlled shock. It worked, but the voice did not follow. In it's place was a garbled, glitchy mess, that startled Mike. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but it was over before he could comprehend exactly what was going on.

 

“ _Let's check on Funtime Foxy, make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow.”_ Mike clicked the light, and once again, it was only a shadow of the animatronic. Wherever it was, it definitely was not on its stage. The machine's response was... Less than desirable to Mike.

 

“ _Great... Great... Great...”_ It said, its voice distorted and deep. Mike sighed, accepting that tonight was bound to be a bad night overall. To his surprise, his handheld device rebooted itself.

 

“ _There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby's Auditorium.”_ It said. That was exactly what he didn't want to do, and felt his face flush. He didn't want to go into that room... He didn't want to face that thing. But he had to. Despite his dread, he crawled into the vent and out into the small control room for the circus gallery. Following the device's instructions, he tried the light, as well as the controlled shocks. However this time, the controlled shocks were not working... Which was a bit more than worrisome. _“There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart.”_ With that, the power went out. There was an eerie silence, but then... As Mike had dreaded since the day he was hired, he heard the voice he never wanted to hear again.

 

“I don’t recognize you. You are new. I remember this scenario, however. It’s a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I’m curious what events will lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this willingly. Maybe curiosity, maybe ignorance. There is a space under the desk, someone before you crafted it into a hiding place and it worked for him. I recommend that you hurry though. You will be safe there, just try not to make eye contact, it will be over soon. They will lose interest.” Mike shivered at the sound of her voice. She sounded... aware. Too aware. He crawled under the desk and pulled the metal panel in front of it, hiding himself from whatever “they” were.

 

It wasn't long before he heard the sound of something crawling his way, making his blood run cold. There were tiny voices, whispers, of what sounded like children. But he knew it wasn't children... It was those tiny robotic babies that accompanied Circus Baby, affectionately named the “bidybabs”. He could hear them hitting metal on metal to attempt to get inside his little hiding place, and he held his breath. Panic hit as the panel began to move, and he used all his strength to pull it back, and he was shocked to find it easy. He let out a breath of relief, but his anxiety flared once more as the panel began moving again. He grabbed at its side and for a moment thought he wasn't strong enough to keep it in place, but to his relief, they seemed to give up.

 

“She's watching us.”

 

“We have to leave now.”

 

“We will see you again soon!”

 

There was dead silence, and Mike held his breath. He kept a tight grip on the panel, hoping that soon, the power would come back. But then that voice spoke again, sending shivers through his body.

 

“When your guide comes back online, he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful, that you must restart the system manually. He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the Breaker Room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore, she will catch you. The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Ballora Gallery, go slowly. She can not see you and can only listen for your movement. When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near, listening for you. Wait and be still.” Hearing that voice made Mike feel sick. He was so glad to hear it suddenly stop with the sound of the power returning, for once, very glad to hear the voice of his handheld companion.

 

“ _Thank you for your patience. It seems that the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the primary control module.”_

 

Mike crawled out of his small hiding space and anxiously scurried to the vent back into the control module. He was so happy to be away from that horrid machine that seemed to lurk in the darkness of the room. He had yet to have seen her... And he was not looking forward to the day he would have to. He almost felt relaxed, but his next instructions made him groan in dismay.

 

“ _You will now be required to crawl through the Ballora gallery using the vent to your left to reach the breaker room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground, and reach the other side as fast as possible, as to not disturb Ballora. I will deactivate myself momentarily, as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating...”_ There was a muffled blip, and the device went quiet. Mike hesitated at the door to the entry vent to the Ballora Gallery, thinking about the instructions he had just been given. He'd been warned by Circus Baby not to listen to it... And his doubt in the device was enough to make him genuinely trust the instructions given by her. As much as he deeply hated that machine, she seemed to be looking out for him... Which was more than strange. Definitely not something he had expected.

 

He crawled into the vent and out the other side, hearing the door clunk shut behind him. The room was dim, but he could see ever so slightly the space in front of him. He crawled along the floor as to not make noise, staying as quiet as possible as he hurried along. He heard the faint sound of a music box, playing a song he hadn't heard in years... It was a sad song, and Michael never quite understood why his father had decided to add it into her song bank. It got louder and louder, and he froze in place as he heard it pass just behind him, then getting distant once more. He moved to continue his crawl, but was startled by his handheld friend blurting out into the dark room, its voice echoing in the emptiness.

 

“ _It seems you are taking a long time. Please proceed as quickly and as quietly as possible.”_

 

“Shit!” Mike whispered, once again staying still. He heard the music grow close, and in a moment of panic he inched himself forward from where he had last been and waited once more, hearing the music grow its loudest right where he had been. When it grew distant once more, he shuffled his way over to the door and quickly ran in and slammed the door shut behind him. He leaned against it and let out a sigh, closing his eyes as he wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. When he opened his eyes, he was once again startled by what he saw lurking in the dark. Sparks flew from fuses in the room, illuminating a very tall white and pink bear with a rabbit hand puppet. He had fond memories of that bear, but now he was much more concerned with what it could do to him. It didn't seem to see him...

 

“ _You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel that you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily, until it is safe to reconnect.”_ The handheld said. Mike sighed in response, and looked at what he had to work with. There was a maintenance panel with a screen, and a small button to the side. Hesitantly, he pressed the button, and a chipper, sweet voice played somewhere in the room. It spoke about going back to the stage and going back to sleep. It must have served as some sort of safety feature to keep the bear at bay. Funtime Freddy's design wasn't quite as friendly as the original Freddy's. It seemed... Wrong, somehow. Mike couldn't quite place why, but he didn't stop to think about it. He turned on the screen and began restarting one of the breakers. His hand jerked away from the button when a very obnoxious voice echoed from the dark.

 

“I see you over there in the dark! C-Come on out!”

 

Mikes hand smacked the button to the side, playing a delightful little voice that told Freddy to go back to sleep. After a pause, he turned the panel on once again and restarted the first breaker. He began to restart the next, but quickly shut off the panel as he saw the flash from a spark illuminate the bear that was now in a different place. He played the voice once more, and with the next flash, it was back to its original position.

 

Continuing his work was a delicate dance between using the panel and keeping himself safe, but near the end, he got a bit greedy. A flash illuminated the bear looming over him, and he yelped and slammed his hand on the button. He fell backwards onto the floor and flinched as he expected the bear to take a swing at him, but soon realized nothing had happened. The voice played like normal, and with the next few flashes, the bear retreated. He played it again after standing back up, watching the bear return to its place. He went back to the panel and finished restarting the final breaker, letting out a satisfied sigh as he finished.

 

“ _Great job. This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Ballora gallery with care, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.”_

 

Mike began to crawl back through Ballora's room, and was about a third of the way through when he realized he no longer heard the music. Uneasy, he continued a bit slower, until a voice echoed from somewhere within the room.

 

“ _Is someone there?”_

 

Mike froze and felt an unexpected hitch in his breath as his face grew hot. That voice was something he thought he'd never hear again... Its calm tone sounded exactly how his mother had all those years ago. He could still recall her speaking to him the day before she passed, the last time they had talked. _“Don't worry, Michael... Everything will be okay.”_ She had said, but things weren't going to be okay, like she had said. She passed the day after, and Michael remembered coming home to a dead silent house after school. He knew something was horribly wrong... His sister was not there, but his father was. He had walked over to Michael and knelt down, pulling him into a tight hug. He didn't have to say a word... Michael knew exactly what had happened. He cried into his father's shoulder, and could feel him shake as he held in his own sadness. He didn't want to let his son see him in such a mess... He wanted to be strong for him.

 

Mike shook his head, refocusing on the task at hand. He continued his crawl towards the vent, shoving all those sad memories to the back of his mind. The voice spoke again, but he didn't waver this time.

 

“ _I can hear someone creeping in my room”_

 

He didn't stop, and focused on getting to he vent ahead of him. All he wanted was to go home... He wanted the night to be over. And he was no longer letting himself stop and be reminded of his past.

 

“ _Perhaps not...”_

 

Ballora must have decided either she was hearing things, or that she was going to let whatever had been heard go on its way. Mike was just glad to hear the words, and quickly scurried into the vent as he reached it. He wasted no time at all rushing to the elevator and hitting the button to send him back up to the surface. He couldn't help but feel something was off as he reached the top, like a sense of dread rushed over him. Something told him he should check out the horror attraction... And he didn't know why. He looked at the clock as he stepped out of the elevator. To his surprise, it was only 3 AM. He had time. He rushed home and got into his car, now hell-bent on finding out why something in his mind was telling him to go there. And when he arrived... The building had just burst into flames.


End file.
